Differences
by HawkEye2013
Summary: Callie is a pompous entiled rich lawyer, until she meets a writer that's opposite what she is, she starts to see things differently!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: This is my first writing so please be nice with the criticism, I pay a lot of attention to details so the story might be stretched a little but with time I'll start to adjust and make it all come together, I'm open to your thoughts and opinions, this story is purely creative. Enjoy!

Pairing: Callie|Arizona

Chapter 1

Staring through my huge window out into the Seattle horizon, its moist and cold air pressing and washing softly on the glass frame, I have worked in this firm for over 3 years and eachtime it rains I can't help but admire the view of the city, it has been one of my favorite things ever since I moved from Miami. The sound of the rain and the momentary loud strike of the lightning is something I have come to like, makes me appreciate the art of verbal silence. Speaking of silence they seem to lack respect for that in this firm, or maybe its just my assistance; a young asian woman who always looks angry and has the worst attitude ever, curly black hair, average height and a remarkable brain, was considered the luckiest Senior Partner for snagging her as an associate, then I heard a sharp knock on my door shortly after the door opens slightly and the asian woman sticks half her body in and I heard her clear her throat,

"Errr Callie?" without turning my gaze from the view of the city I shoot back at her for breaking the beautiful silence

"WHAT?!"

"Geez! Who peed in your cheerios?" she said with an eye roll I didn't need to see to know about

"Cristina! Do you need something?" now my gaze fixed on the new presence in the room with a look that almost passes for loathing

"Easy on the stare down Medusa, Webber needs your presence in his office says he has a case for you"

"Why didn't he just give it to you?" I said now leaving my sweet spot that viewed Seattle's beauty to sit behind my desk that backed the view, I stared right at the woman infront of me

"When I start reading Webber's mind I'll send you a memo of his thoughts and feelings"

"Get out of my office! Now Cristina, before a vase meets your face" I said trying to feign some seriousness but with Cristina you cant help but chuckle

"He wants you there NOW Callie" she said and then closed my door and she was back to her desk just right outside my door.

Richard Webber wasn't a man that liked being kept waiting, he makes a request he wants it done yesterday. One of the best lawyers out there and he's not one of my biggest fans, actually he's not a fan at all and he doesn't do much to hide it. So I ruffled through some files on my desk did a little to clean up the messy desk and closed some tabs on my laptop and got up to leave, made my way up the elevator and up to his floor and after a couple more walks I made it to his office and I could see through the glass door he was having a conversation with a man, I turned to his assitant a short woman with a gun for a tongue, and a stare that makes my skin burn, they are a team and she's also one hell of a lawyer and one of my good friends,

"Morning Miranda, he wants to see me?

"Oh yes, just walk right in he's been expecting you for a while"

"He has someone in there" I said pointing to the back on the head that looks a little familiar but can't quite place my finger on it

"Just go in he's waiting, oh and Torres?" she called just as I was about to enter the office making me turned back to face her slightly "Happy Birthday drinks on me tonight", couldn't help but smile at her and mouth a silent thank you to her as I walked into his office. As I made my presence known by entering, Webber's head snapped in my directly and a wide smile covered his face, I looked back and wondered if it was directed at the other person that entered but I think its for me cause the other person seems invisible and I make my way deeper into the office and they both stand up and face me, then I recognized the man; British, late 50s but doesn't look a day over 40, his black hair perfectly coifed just well to show his highlights, black pinstrip expensive suit with his initials imprinted on his pocket square, on italian leather lace-up and his cologne was very manly, that is Robert Donohue one of the firm's largest clients and Richard and Carlos' old friend.

"Torres sit down, you recognize Robert don't you?" the older man said with a friendly tone that keeps surprising me at every turn

"Yes…Yes I do" I replied taking the man's hand for a handshake then taking a seat next in the other empty chair beside the man, didn't really understand the scene exactly so I decided to ask "Cristina said you had a case for me?" there is it again another smile, what is up with Richard?

"Yes I do" then he cleared his throat and gave Robert a cryptic stare and Robert was on his feet, straightening his suit and on his way out of the office and telling me and Richard to have nice day as he was out of the office the smile on Richard's face was gone **oh now that's the Richard I recognize, **"I'm sure you know Robert Donohue very well, he is one of our largest clients and one of the wealthiest man in Seattle, 4 sons who love trouble and he pays tons to legally get them out without long term damage, which in turn powers this beautiful firm"

"Richard I'm pretty aware of that, Mark and I have gotten them out of a bunch of those problems"

"Okay good, this one is rape. His youngest son Matthew has been accused of raping an 18 year old girl and she doesn't have the best past and I want you to fix it I don't want this to smell a court room" his face ice cold and serious

"What exactly are you asking me to do Richard?" his cold face was mirrored back with the same expression from me

"You're one of the best fixers I know, entiled arrogant, pompous, crass and cocky but you are good at what you do. He was drunk, things like this happen and low-lifes try to make a life out of it. I want this to go away without media coverage."

"Tell me about her past how bad is it?"

"Shoplifted a couple times and some other things that are now your business" he threw the case to my side of the table and gave me a look that had no emotion at all, "can you handle this?"

"Consider it done" I said with sheer cockiness as I made my way out of his office, walked in into the elevator and into my office and fell heavy into my chair, looking over the case when I heard

"So what happened? Webber finally fired you?" I snapped my head up to see the muscular 6 foot tall man with a grey hair, which is mostly highlight, in a white collar shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbow that looked like it was made for him and him only, tucked neatly into black pants and a suade lace-up, he was leaning against my door frame with a smile I would never get used to. "Yang said you got summoned" he moved into my office and sat down on a sofa at the left side the meeting area of my office and put his leg up on the coffee table his head leaning on the back on the chair with his attention to me

"Remind me to fire Yang" I stood up and joined him on the sofa and let out a heavy sigh, "he wants me to defend a rape case"

"That's piece of cake right? You can do that in your sleep"

"Yeah! Just looking over a couple things and I have another case to close in a couple hours, nice shirt I didn't know you and Lexie had a date?"

"I dress this nice on others days too"

"of course you do!" I said in a rather mocking tone which gets an eyeroll from him "whats the occasion" I said after giving him another glance

"Its your birthday Torres, I made reservations at Giovanni's tonight we're having dinner"

"OH thank God thought you would be planning a surprise party or something, Teddy was rather weird this morning"

"No! surprise parties are hostile, people jump out and scream at you, never comes to any good" he said with a look at almost seemed like he remembered when it happened to him, I just gave a light chuckle and placed my head on his shoulder

"The kid I'm defending? I hate to think he actually raped the girl and Webber wants it to go away, I hate overthinking everything sometimes"

"That's not the job Torres, actually it's the opposite. Why would he ask you to do that if the kid is guilty?"

"Robert Donohue makes a request? Richard shifts the earth to make it possible"

"Oh! Had to defend a theft case a couple months back too, his children need to get locked up" I gave a giggle in agreement and our conversation was cut short when a skinny tall blonde in a skin tight skirt and blue sleeveless satin top, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder and black red-bottom pumps walked into the office and made herself comfortable behind my desk

"Hey birthday girl? Cristina said you got fired"

"Remind me to fire her, come over here Altman. Mark was telling about dinner tonight"

"Oh God Mark you are so fort knox right now, that was meant to be a surprise" the skinny blonde said making her way over our side of the office and sitting opposite me and mark with her legs crossed

"I hate surprises, I'm not putting my friend through the horror" he said his gaze at the ceiling, we both gave him a puzzled look

"Childhood party trauma?" he asked Mark which got an eye-roll from him, "Callie I'm inviting a friend for the dinner is that okay? Has Jamie called yet?"

"Yes! The more the merrier, Bailey might want to come too, even Yang with the fat mouth can come too and NO! shes expecting a grand apology for missing her show" I shrugged

"You're not even dating anymore so what do you care? The black goose or something right? Where they dress in feathers and tutus and hop all over the stage" Teddy said with so much indifference in her face showing her obvious disinterest in ballet

"I really don't get the whole thing and they move so slow and then they start spinning and spinning and twirling, that's the tiring part" Mark added

"Black Swan! You know what's good about dating a ballet dancer?" I asked just out of the blue which made both of them stare at me expecting some deep explanation "they are super flexible in bed" I added, they both kept staring at me like I just asked both of them to strip naked, the laughter suddeny ripped through the office from the 3 of us. The whole scene was interrupted when Cristina stepped in,

"Callie, your 10:00 clients are here in conference room 3 and the background check on the rape victim is ready for you"

"Thank you Cristina, guys the job calls I will see you both at lunch?

"Oh I'm leaving right now, have to pick my friend up from the airport she's new in Seattle" Teddy said standing up and making her way out, "but I will see you tonight"

Mark made his way out of the office too with a quick peck to the cheek and a promise to meet me for lunch, and with that my first case for the day was set and my game face was turned on.

"Morning! Okay firs…." I was interrupted by this bald, short man in a grey suit and horn-rimmed glasses

"My client will be seeing you in court if this issue doesn't work out in her favor"

"Mr.?" I asked unruffled

"Nelson"

"Never interrupt me again Mr. Nelson is that clear?" he gave a nod and I continued "And your client cant go to court cause right now she's really lucky she's not in jail so shut up and do what you quacks do best and listen" he relaxed into his chair and didn't say anything, respect established!

"Your client is facing potential jail time if she doesn't refund my client for his painting and repairs that's all he's asking for"

"My client owes your client a refund for the painting and nothing else"

"Let me remind you Bob, that she sold him a painting that belongs to her husband who left her for 5 months, and he came back with thugs and trashed my client's house and him before taking the painting"

"My client is filing for dessertion"

"Bob I know you're a quack but I'd expect you to know you cant file for dessertion until its been over year" I said with a condescending tone that got a disgusted look from Nelson

"You're not allowed to speak to me like that"

"That's why a mediating room is better than a court room, I can say that" he asks for more time to discuss with his client who was sitting across from me rather reserved, their back and forth argument seem like it went on for days and I couldn't stand the wait, "Nelson we are wasting daylight my client can sue your client for misinformation"

"What are the options?"

"Your client can keep the painting, my client wants a full refund and money for repairs"

"Where is the compromise, you're not leaving my client with anything that favors her right now"

"She should be happy he isnt suing her for selling merchandise that wasn't hers"

"Okay, my client doesn't have that kind of money she is going to need some time to pay up"

"2 weeks and I'll be taking this to court where she will be paying more and maybe facing some jail time"

"Okay, she'll find a away to pay up for that and the repairs" after more arguments and more intimidating law terms were thrown round the room and harsh words, she finally agreed to have the money read in 3weeks and nothing more"

"Here sign this" I pushed the paperwork finalising their agreement to the deal and after signing he stands up and buttons up his jacket and his brief case and his client who seemed quiet through the entire thing was right behind him, just as he was exiting the conference room with his hand on the handle and the door slightly open he turns and says,

"Its Donald Nelson, not Bob"

"Okay Bob, have a pleasant day" I closed the folder infront of me and walked up to him, gave him a smile and gave him a pat on his shoulder as way to belittle him and then I said,

"Are you going to open the door Nelson or are you just going to stand there" the loathing and need to punch me across my face was evident but I wasn't one bit bothered, he opened the door his knuckles pale from grabbing the handle so tight out of anger, with a cocky smirk I walked out and made my way down to my office.

Walked into my office it already 12:23, and walked over my desk and looked over the file for the rape victim and her files had a lot of red flags that would allow me move through the case like breeze, have her seem like a gold-digger. Read the file for hours and forgot about lunch until a text came in.

**-been waiting at Johnny's for a while now, you better have crashed your car somewhere that's the only explanation for the delay- Mark**

Took a peek at my watch and saw 2:30 and cleared my desk shut down my laptop, and put on my coat and I was out of the office and out of the building, Arrived at the café and walked in it wasn't crowded so it was easy to spot Mark, an angry looking Mark staring at his watch and at the door, walked to our table and gave him an apologetic smile,

"Its your birthday you get a pass on this, what you having? Salad?"

"Hell no! had enough plants this month I think I want chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and a lot of coffee"

"Been a while we had that you want to split?"

"Yes please" Mark told the waiter our order and turned his gaze back to his phone, "so who is the friend Teddy went to pick? That's making her miss this?"

"Never met her, Teddy did say her name was Alabama or something" he said without looking up from his phone

"I'm sure she didn't say it was Alabama"

"Then it has to be Alaska, yes I'm 100% sure that's it" then waiter came back with the order and he's stuffing his mouth with a fork full of cake

"Her parents woke up and decided to name their child Alaska? That's just child abuse" we both laughed and the rest of lunch was spent teasing eachother and talking about cases and our schedule, we both left and Mark detoured to see Lexie in the hospital where she works and I went back to the office.

Behind my desk again for the third time today and the work keeps piling and cases keep creeping into my schedule, massaging my left temple while reading through some cases when for the third time again today a certain asian woman is interrupting something,

"Err Callie? Webber wants to see you and I think he's fuming some hot steams right now"

"Okay I'll go in a few" I said returning back to my reading

"Maybe he's about to fire you, can I come and watch your bitch baby tears?"

"Yang! Get out, get…. Get out!" her laughter was loud and a little annoying but I think I'm starting to get used to her even after a year I'm still trying but I wont trade her for anyone else. After a couple minutes I checked my watch it was 5:35 and I was due off work in a couple hours so I walked up to Richard's office for something I can only assume would be unpleasant.

"Richard? You asked for me?" he didn't look up from his paperwork or acknowledge my being there, "Richard I'm standing right here"

"Sit down" he still didn't look up from his work, I sat down and made myself a little comfortable, "You and Derek have this arrogance I really don't understand it and I know it's because you're both remarkable lawyers, but it ends now Torres"

"I don't understand Sir, what exactly is this about?"

"Donald Nelson has this verbal assault claim out in the wind for you and Derek, If its one lawyer I can dismiss it but two? It sticks. You are both going act contrite to him"

"I really don't see why…" my defense was cut short

"Don't let me remind you how you got here Torres, your richie rich parents put you in this firm now stop acting like an entitled brat and make do for your errors"

"Yes Sir"

"You're dismissed" he said with a wave of his hand and he was back to his paperwork, I was on my feet and at the door with one stride and my hand on the knob when I heard "Oh and Torres? One more claim like this and I'll have you benched and I want to here what Dad has to say" my back still to him and my jaw clenched, he was the only person with the words to tip my calm self off I opened the door and was out and back to my office and into my chair and then my door opened without even knowing who i yelled,

"Cristina not now!"

"okay, are you okay? Want to talk about it?"

"NO!"

"oh thank God, feared you'd say yes anyway I'm off. See you tomorrow Boss" and she was out of the door and the I realized the dinner was in a couple hours and I had to get ready so shut down my laptop and put a couple files in my bag to work on at home. And I was out of my office soon after, which was already starting to look empty which made me guess tonight wasn't going to be just dinner. Got into my car and I was on my way home and Webber's words eating up my mind and making me really angry, thumbs drumming up beats on the steering uncounsciously cause my thoughts were all over the place, didn't even realised I was in garage until I was pulling out my car keys, I walked into the house that used to belong to me and my girlfriend till she moved to New York for better dance company and I guess we just respected eachother's careers enough not to put pressure on the split, some of her boxes still litter the house which now seemed empty and really quiet. Walked upstiars into my room and out of my work clothes and into the shower to wash away the stress of the day and put on some free clothes and walked downstairs it was just 6:00pm and the dinner or party or whatever Mark had planned was for 8 so I plopped down into my living room couch and brought out all my files, poured myself a tall glass of red and put on the TV but the volume reduced for some background sound, read over the rape case over and over and I was sure I had all I needed to clear this without breaking a sweat. Time seemed to pass by so fast when you have a party you don't want to attend on the itinerary then a text came in.

**_Picking you up soon. Please tell me you're ready and looking amazing be there in 20 – Mark**

20 minutes? I was out of my chair and upstairs in record time and going through clothes, went through formal, too formal, casual, a little too casual, too inappropriate to 'I don't think this is it' and more clothes being thrown all over the place until the purple, knee length, tight dress winked at me it was like I could hear it say 'pick me Cal, pick me' and I paired it with black heels and that was it, perfect!

Make-up was complete, hair was a little curly with a side fringe, grabbed my coat and back downstairs just in time to hear the knock, opened the door and his face lit up and his eyes scanned me up and down and a weird smile crossed his face,

"If you weren't so gay and I wasn't in love with Lexie we'd be tearing a hot one right now" he said while sounding so…Mark about it

"You're a dirty, dirty old man" he took my hand and we walked into the car, "it's a surprise party isnt it?" without staring at him I could just feel it

"Altman would have my balls on a pike if I told you, but hint; try to look a little surprised when they yell "SURPRISE""

"How's that you not telling me?"

"Telling you what?" he said with a fake clueless expression

"You're a good friend Mark, just the best"

We arrived outside Giovanni's just in time and put my game face on because I'm sure Teddy would have my head also if I didn't act surprised or close to tears cause I was raked with emotion, we walked right in and as expected, "SURPRISE!" I could have gone to acting school and made it out with a star had the siganture hand to chest, fake gasp and raised eyebrow look on and sold!

"Oh my God you guys are the best, I wasn't expecting this at all"

"You liar, you're going to hell" Mark whispered into my ear before walking away into the restaurant, getting hugs from random people I have never met but worked with and then Teddy walked up to me,

"That didn't fool me I know he told you. UGH! He cant be tight-lipped to save his own skin"

"Oh he tries, this is amazing by the way Thank you"

"You're Welcome, did Jamie call?"

"How about we don't talk about her tonight, I want to drink and have fun its my birthday damnit!" I said as I took off my coat and walked to the bar with Teddy not far behind, walked over to the bar and boozebag a.k.a Teddy ordered a whole bottle of tequila after 4 shots I was ready to actually have fun which I rarely get to do but all the while I couldn't stop staring at a particular blonde at the edge of the bar,

"Hey boozebag who's that?"

"Oh that's my friend the one I told you I was going to pick up"

"Oh Alaska! Mark told me about her"

"Alaska? Seriously? You two are unbelievable come on let me introduce you"

We walked over to her and the closer we got the more this woman seems breathtaking, she has blonde curly hair its short and edgy, she looked a little tired my guess from the flight here but that didn't do anything to decrease the glow, she had on a red black lowcut top with a grey jacket on and white denim pants and cute loafers, she looked amazing, she was having a conversation with another person and a smile on her face which showed her dimples, she couldn't get any cuter if she tried.

"Hey Arizona, you're okay?"

"Yeah I am" her eyes moved from Teddy to me and up and down like she was waiting for more words out of Teddy

"Oh sorry this Callie Torres the birthd…" her semi-drunk rant was cut off by me

"Callie Torres" stretched out my hand for being polite's sake

"Arizona Robbins" **Arizona not Alaska! That's better.** she took my hand for a shake that lasted a little more than normal

"Okay, mingle I will see you two in a few Henry is here" she was gone before I could even blink

"So you work with Teddy? Same field?"

"Yes and No, shes a Paralegal and I'm a fixer, more like a mediator"

"You hate the court rooms don't you?" she said with a dimpled smile

"Hell yes! So you're new in Seattle, what do you do?" I took a sit on a bar stool right beside her

"YES, I'm a writer the new scenery helps with inspiration I guess"

"Well you couldn't have picked a better place Seattle is beautiful and you know what helps in new locations?"

"No, what's that" again with the dimples that keep grabbing my attention

"A wonderful tour guide, I know the most amazing coffee shop eevr in Seattle"

"We writers do love our coffee, it's a little hard to refuse when you go there" we both let out a little chuckled and she gave a nod

"So when do we start this tour?"

"How about Saturday? I have the whole day off and there are a lot of other places you need to see"

"Saturday sounds perfect, I'm eager already" if I didn't know any better I'd say this our little banter seemed like flirting but I wasn't sure if she was on my team or just really friendly

"Nothing with alcohol"

"You're real right? I mean if I poke you right now you're not going to disappear" her laughter was cute

"Fine! Il have a vodka tonic" its really nice how easy our conversation flowed, no awkwardness or silent moments and like every good moment I have been having that day there was always something ruining it, more like someone,

"Hey Boss" said the asian woman holding a bottle of tequila and was obviously tipsy

"I thought you were going home, how did you end up here"

"I wasn't going to tell you I was leaving to attend your party now was I"

"With your fat mouth? That wouldn't have come as a shock" I said with deadpan face

"You don't pay me enough for this"

"Maybe I should fire you"

"You wouldn't dare, you'd be lost without me. I'm the best you have believe THAT!...nice to meet you blondie" and she walked off to where Meredith Grey was sitting obviously tipy too and they say lawyers are uptight, they havent seen those two at a bar.

"That's errrr your"

"Assistant"

"She's….umm…she's a …"

"It's okay you can say it"

"A bitch!" we both laughed and I have to admit that's one truth I can deny

"So do you…" my attempt to actually find out if shes just super friendly or actually on my team was interrupted yet again

"TORRES! TORRES!" Mark was calling me from a table not too far from the bar and gesturing for me to come over and judging from the crowd at that table I'm going to be listening to law jokes and puns all night, gave her an apologetic smie and she gave an understanding nod as I got up to leave

"Nice to meet you Arizona"

"Likewise Callie" and another shake and I was leaving to meet up with Mark and Derek and others at the table, "hey! Happy birthday" she said with a smile that I am fast becoming a huge fan of. Got to the table and Miranda was telling a story about a case that obviously had everyone's attention so I joined in to listen but with my thoughts tied to a certain blonde, at a particular point laughter ripped throughthe entire table but I wasn't really listening. The rest of the night was spent guzzling alcohol and making jokes I glanced to the bar later on but the blonde was gone.

**I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing a lot of her**

Am I heading down a good path? Your opinions count and your criticism is taken under compliments.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: This is my first writing so please be nice with the criticism, I pay a lot of attention to details so the story might be stretched a little but with time I'll start to adjust and make it all come together, I'm open to your thoughts and opinions, this story is purely creative. Enjoy!

A|N 2: This chapter doesn't have much of Calzona but this goes a long way to explain a lot of things that will happen along this story.

Pairing: Callie| Arizona

Chapter 2

Rays of the morning sun is something we have all read about, how the girl in the book wakes up to it and smiles and gets up perky, I guess that girl has never had a hangover or shared a bed with Teddy Altman cause waking up to that with a hangover is nothing to be perky about, it hurts and burns.

"Arrgh! Cant you please pull the blinds, do it please pull the damn thing down I think my cornea has been scratched" I said pulling the sheets over my head

"I'm glad we never grew up together a sleep-over with you would have been deadly" the skinny lady stood up and pulled the blinds down and the sheets off me, "get up you troll! we have work to get to and you have that case coming in at 10:00"

"Oh no! leave me to die in this spot, I'm sure that would make Richard very happy" I grumbled trying to find the comfort of my duvet again

"I read somewhere that irish people and spanish people can hold their liquor that they have a bigger liver just for booze, but you Torres you're a disgrace to Spain" she said while pulling my leg from the edge of the bed

"Oh thank you, you're a good friend I really don't know how I survived without you for years, you should change where you buy books i think that's a bootleg" at that point I was awake and my head was throbbing and my throat was dry, I sat upright in bed while running my hand over my eyes, "why are you so perky you drank more than I did"

"I on the other hand can actually hold my liquor, by the way your bed hair is really unattractive"

"I think there's butter, and vodka in it and maybe ham really not sure it smells really funny from down here"

"Why would there be ham and….you know what? I'm not going to ask just get up and into the shower you look how you feel"

"I don't like you at all" I shuffled off the bed and was on my feet and then was hit with a storm of dizziness I could hear Teddy laughing at my wreckage, walked into the shower with my clothes and I let the water help the hangover.

After the much needed hit from the cold shower and a whole bottle of shampoo in my hair I was looking a little more human and as Teddy would say less "troll-like" peeked at the time on the clock and it was 7:30, I just wanted to sleep off and stop the ringing in my ear but work was a bigger priority, sat at the edge of the bed with my hair wrapped in a towel and by bathrobe on just trying to take a minute. After a couple minutes I stood up and went through my closet and throwing on something work appropriate, and touching up my face with some make-up nothing too fancy or overdone just right enough to cover the sore rings round my eyes and the stressed look, and got my shoes and I was downstairs to find Teddy on my couch watching TV and hugging a mug to her chest with her legs on my coffee table, she turned back and said,

"You look human, there's coffee and eggs and toast and I set aside some tylenol for the headache" and she was back to the TV

"Thank you, thank you, thank you" moved to the kitchen which was arguably the biggest room in the house, Jamie was in love with the kitchen I just wanted a house, stuffing my face with everything and anything on the plate. Coffee in my system and some food and the tylenol and I think I'm ready to power through the day. Walking back out to the living room and Teddy still trapped with only heavens knows what she's watching

"See you later at work?"

"Yeah I'll be in in a couple hours,think I'm going to take Henry some breakfast"

"You two dating yet?"

"No!"

"Riiiiiiight"

"Shut up and go to work"

Out the door and into the car and out the driveway into the Seattle streets and off to work, walked in and everyone else looked normal and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one with the hangover ache evident on my face like a neon sign, walked into my office and was thankful there wasn't a certain asian woman at her desk, probably having an early morning gossip session with her twisted sister; Meredith Grey. The rain clouds were obvious in the sky, the skies were getting dark and Seattle was approaching its most beautiful moment, laid back in my chair with my finger massaging my temple trying to get a certain blonde out of my mind and focus on the case in a couple hours,

"You look like crap" no sign of shock at the asian woman cause only one person makes her presence known with such words

"And you still have a fat mouth, guess nothing has changed then" I said with my eyes still shut and hand massaging the vein

"Headaches huh?"

"Like you wont believe"

"Coffee?"

"Loads of it"

"You look like you're going to need the whole cart, you have the Donohue case for 10:00 which means they will be here in a few, Webber said you should brush up on your case and 'make sure you don't disappoint' his exact words"

"He's such a charmer isn't he? Get the coffee Yang!"

"For a hungover person you're dreadfully loud" like everyother thing Yang says the best reply is an eyeroll and I couldn't call Mark cause he was in court for most of the day with Derek, so I compiled my points for the case and was out of my chair in just the right time for her to show up with my latte,

"What time is it?" I said while passing her the file and taking a long sip of that good caffeine "Set me up in conference room 2 get a video recorder"

"8:14…I thought Webber said…" I wasn't in the mood to listen to anything Webber ordered

"Webber isn't the one on the case I AM!, when I ask you to do something Yang just get to it"

"Okay, You're going to wait for them in the conference room?"

"I don't wait for anybody get me when the room is full and ready to start" I walked back to my office and back behind my desk, this time my chair turned to the window behind me the rain hadn't exactly started but the dark shadow it was casting was pretty good to look at too and I decided to rest my eyes I don't know for how long I was in that spot but like every good moment I have there's an asian woman ready to ruin it

"Errr Callie? Garry Clark and his daughter are here in the conference room but Matthew isn't here yet"

"What do you mean he's not here? What's the time?" I said turning my chair to face her

"It's a little over 9, I decided to wait a little hoping he'd show but nothing" **oh shoot I actually fell asleep on the chair**

"How long have the Clarks been waiting?"

"Like 20minutes"

"What The Hell!" I was out of my chair and into the elavator, "stall them a little longer Yang, I don't care how" and stepping out and into Richard's office almost like he was the one I was mad at, "if he won't make it in time for this? How the hell am I supposed to defend this claims?"

"Excuse me?"

"Matthew Donohue! He's late and this is just him being silly"

"First of first; never burst into office ever again and yell at me, I gave you this case if you're too incompetent to handle this little thing then make that loud"

"Richard! I nev…." He cut me short

"Pick him up from his hotel if you have to I really don't give a damn, I said don't disappoint and right now I have a feeling that is going to happen"

"I'm not his nanny, I am a lawyer!"

"Not a competent one if you havent fixed this case right in front you, get out of my office I really don't have the patience to babysit your faults"

"That's all you have to say?" I said ready to slap the hell out of his face for his words that keep cutting me like a thousand needles and right now I was having the worst time ever

"GET OUT!" I was out of his door and back into the elevator and a floor down to my office and there Cristina was with an apologetic look on her face

"They are on their way out of here, they arent waiting any longer and he said something about a court"

"DAMNIT YANG! One simple thing and you're useless at that, what exactly are you good for, get Achfield on the phone and find out where the hell Matthew Donohue is, can you manage that?". Left a lost and confused Cristina Yang and made my way to the stairs and did the best I could in heels to make it down the stairs in time to meet the Clarks before they left the building or I wasn't only going to be facing the wrath of Richard but of Robert too, at some point down the stairs the heels became a difficulty so I took them off and kept racing down the stairs thanking my luck for picking the skinny pants this morning made it down to the lobby in record time and caught them right as they were walking out

"MR CLARK!" trying to catch my breath and appear a little calm that didn't happen cause my mouth was wide open and my hair was all over the place and my pores were crying, "I'm really sorry for the wait and discomfort would you please come back upstairs"

"Is this some sorta joke?" said the rough looking man in a white worn out tee-shirt and a plaid shirt over it, on old torn jeans and a baseball cap that has obviously seen better days, he had a calm face and a full moustache his accent was clearly western and so country, "We have been waiting for so long and we are the ones waiting for the creep who violated my daughter" he said obviously getting really angry

"Why don't we talk about this upstairs, just come with me" I gestured towards the elevator and we were back upstairs and into the conference room, "I will be back in a couple minutes" he gave a nod and his daughter was quiet the entire time, was back down the hall to my office with no shoes on and with the look on her face I can tell she wasn't expecting the words that fell upon her from my mouth a couple minutes earlier

"Where the hell is he?"

"Archfield said he checked in this morning, late night party my best guess, Room 210"

"That son of a…." I let a heavy breath leave my lungs and ran my hands through my hair and down my face, "get my shoes somewhere down the stairs" I walked into my office and put on my spare flats and I was out of the building like my life depended on it, didn't think I was in the right mental state to handle an automobile so I decided on a cab. And I was banging my fist against his door like I was there to beat the life out of him, he opened the door and I could smell weed and obviously he'd been drinking a whole lot of alcohol cause his breath smelled like a public bar bathroom,

"Who the hell are you?"

"Who the hell am i? the little fucker just asked me who I am! I am your lawyer you twat and your case was set an hour ago while you were here doing THIS" I said waving my hand over the mess that was his hotel room with beer bottles on the floor and burnt out joints on the rug and the ash tray

"Oh shit! I spaced on time I really forgot about that, just chill a bit man I will throw some clothes on" he threw on the already picked out suit and shoes laid out like he was an invalid and we were ready to leave within the hour, "you must be Cal huh?"

"Don't speak to me and chew something your breath smells like something died in there" I shoved a mint his way from the pile of rubbish stacked in his room, "let's go". We were on the way back to the firm and deep down I'm silently praying this brat won't cost me my job, I could really use Mark right about now. "get out of the car dumbass or do you need an invite"

"Are you even allowed to talk to me that way?" we walked into the building and up the elevator and into the conference room and Gary's face upon setting eyes on Matthew went from calm to angry in seconds

"That's the bastard! The son of a bitch that violated my daughter, I'm going to kill you myself" he was on his feet and going round the table when security in the room held him back

"Please sit down and let's handle this with some brain in our heads" I said with every ounce of patience gone, my voice broken and the headache was back, when the room got calm just a little bit and everyone was sitted I decided to start,"okay, now lets begin"

"Let's" Gary said with his country accent

"I will ask your daughter some questions and you can testify to the answer" he gives me a nod all the while giving Matthew a deadly stare. "Your daughter was she a virgin before this allegation?"

"Allegation? He did it and he knows he did" about to stand up and go over the table this time before security held him down again "Yes my baby girl was a virgin"

"That's not the report I got from where she was treated"

"That's because he raped her, that son of a bitch over there raped my daughter and he's gonna pay"

"Your daughter had a large amount of drugs in her system, isn't that right Amelia? Like some party favours you poured down the hatch with some booze?" at this point her father was staring at her and we were all waiting for some answers

"Amelia you also had sex that night didn't you? What was that ex boyfriend's name? Erin was it?" at this point Gary was lost and every anger he seemed to have was going soft cause he realized he really was in the dark with everything

"Amelia what are they saying? Answer the gadamn question Amelia you weren't a virgin?"

"Look I have seen this type of act before father and daughter in a difficult financial corner look for rich kids to frame for some extra money for their miserable lives, this issue happened a couple weeks ago you didn't think to lay this false claims then?"

"Excuse me?! How dare you!"

"You can take this case anywhere till you're blue in the face, no court is going to hear you out or believe this pathetic act of yours. Every single evidence states that your daughter was heavily intoxicated and had drugs in her system and had sex and has shoplifted clothes from a mall, the list is long why don't we add gold-digging to that?" I gave him a list of other things his daughter has bee involved in, in the couple months that his daughter had been a freshman in the college

"You rich arrogant bastards think that you can call me names and I'll just take it?" he was on his feet and this time his anger was channeled at me

"The only reason you didn't file this to court was because you were expecting some money to keep quiet? Is that what this is? You want some money? So you both staged a half-assed plan and thought it would work?"

"To hell with all you bastards and your lives, I worked hard on a farm to have all I have and you rich entitled kids that have never seen labour think you know everything because you went to Ivy-league colleges and grew up in good homes"

"The father of a gold-digger worked on a farm? Maybe you should consider another life choice cause clearly this isn't working for you" Amelia was silent all the while with tears obvious on her eyes and she seems reserved and couldn't even look up from the ground, this time Gary was over the table and lunching a punch at my face but was pulled back just in time and this time security had to forvefully restrain him in place while the ADR continued and each time I said something he was ready to attack and Amelia was in tears the entire time

"You will burn in hell for this I swear on my sweet Joanne's grave"

"Gary, you didn't even know your daughter did all these things on the list, maybe you do and you're desperate for money but this little act? Isnt working for us at all" at this point I was sure this case was done I looked at my watch and I was going to make it in time for lunch, with a quick cocky smirk I said "get your gold-digging ass out of this building or you're going to be the ones getting sued"

"Come on Amelia lets go, come on baby lets go, this is how you treat people ypu intimidate them and call them names? You will pay for this" he took her by the arm and they were out of the door like he was dragging her out.

"That was gruesome mehn! That was pure freaking awesome, Callie Torren slaying the poor hicks since….forever!" he raised his hand for a high five

"It's Torres you tool, you can tell your father that its handled" I closed the files and took the tape from the recorder and I left the conference room with a new and more painful headache,

"So wait you didn't really need me here? Why did you bust my balls for being late then? He asked from behind me, I wasn't in the mood to rant on and on I just walked to my office, Cristina obviously still mad at the words I said to her didn't even look up when I passed her by only to meet the other person with the knack of interrupting an alone time

"Eww those flats are ugly, you look dumpy" I noticed the skinny lady spinning in my hair a little too comfortable

"Afternoon to you too Teddy" I grumbled and went to settle down on the sofa couch instead

"So you and Arizona are going out on a date tomorrow huh?

"Its not a da…wait! she said it was date? Did she actually say the word 'date'?" now my undivided attention to Teddy looking like a horny nerdy teenager whose calculator just got borrowed by a hot cheerleader

"She thinks you're really cute and really fun to be around" her face was buried behind a journal so I couldn't see if she was playing a prank or confirming that the hot blonde from the night before actually likes me

"You better not be playing with me Altman, this will not go down well with you if you are"

"No jokes here, but if you tell her I told you? You're dead to me"

"Won't it seem creepy that we talked about her?"

"We talked about you, are you calling us creepy?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am" objects from my desk start flying in my direction just happy she has a really poor aim

"How did the rape case go?

"Wasn't a rape case, just a couple miserable people in search of some money its really sad things people do"

"Ugh! Really sad, I actually thought the Donohue kid did it. I mean its not like he's above that kind of insane thing"

"I really don't know if I did the right thing either but her file speaks for itself and Richard seems to think he didn't so….damnit! have to give him a case update"

"A couple hours of delay won't kill"

"Actually if it did I would'nt mind at all, want to grab lunch?"

"Yes, Mark being in court most of the day keeps making us look like invalids" Teddy said in a slightly lazy tone

"I rocked my ADR today and I'm feeling like a rockstar, you're the invalid Altman" I said laughing halfway through the statement and when she didn't find anything else to throw my way she decided it was best to make a physical impact and came over to shove me off the couch I was peacefully laying on.

"OW! Teddy I'm all sore from the whole day and I have to be all perky for tomorrow" not bothering to leave the floor or even make an effort

"AWW my little girl is all grown, going on dates and making me proud you need a curfew? No sex on first date okay? Or kissing" hint of mockery clear in the whole sentence

"Who is kissing? And what are you doing on the floor?" Mark walked in pulling off his tie and dropping his briefcase randomly in my office and sitting behind my desk with his legs crossed on my desk, "what are you two goofs up to?"

"Our little baby is growing up too fast Mark she's going on a date tomorrow" taking my old position on the couch Teddy tells Mark all about my encounter with a particularly beautiful blonde and all Mark can do is giggle and tell Teddy how I screw up first dates by offering to take them to extravagant places and be really bossy by ordering for them, their back and forth about all the dates I screwed up cause I was bossy was starting to get me scared,

"Let me guess you offered to fly her to Bora Bora just to sip on magaritas or or or let me guess to buy her a floating castle" Mark's laughter wasn't subtle at all

"Oh God! I remember that, it was the most hilarious scene to watch and the girl actually thought Cal was serious"

"You guys know I'm right here right?, I mean I AM RIGHT HERE" I said screaming from the floor

"OH shush child, mom and dad are discussing your curfew here be quiet" Teddy said while both of them took a whack at my love life with different sticks and apparently they were enjoying themselves and I was on the floor listening to them rant on and on.

"Alright that's enough fun for a lifetime! Anybody down for lunch I am starving and tired"

"Are you forgetting something? You have to update Richard on the case? Go do that and meet us at Johnny's we will **order for you**. Teddy making sure I heard she put some strain on the words while they both made themselves happy with giggles and highfives when they made a realy funny joke about me. I shook my head at the kind of friends I chose to pick and walked out of my office and looked over at Cristina who didn't bother to look at me she had my shoes on her desk but wouldn't bring them to me cause she was mad at me for my outburst but why would I apologize she was the assistant and I'm the boss I don't see the wrong doing here. I was in Webber's office in a heartbeat I was ready to get out of there and be at lunch and be home since I pushed most of my work to the week after,

"Richard the case has been handled and they wont be filing or making anymore claims" I didn't bother to sit cause I was expecting this to be a brief little meeting.

"Good, so apparently when I said act apologetic to Nelson I was just throwing words into the wind cause you didn't listen"

"I didn't see the need to apologize to Nelson of all people, i don't apologize to quacks"

"Did you hear yourself just then? You say you aren't Carlos but everything, your arrogance and your…." His disgusted look was enough to finish the sentence, "take the week off, you're going to be needing some time to clear your head for some reason it seems full"

"You're benching me? Cause I wont apologize to some quack?" I stepped forward my voice raised and raked with anger and aggravation, "You can't bench me Richard this is utter bullshit"

And by that he was on his feet and this had become a full grown argument, "Say something Torres give me a reason to shove you out of my building for good"

"You're forgetting the other name on the door Richard, maybe I should remind you who that man is related to its definitely not you" I said pointing to the door, "You can act all mighty try to change who I am, well deal with it Richard I am what I am bench me all you want that's not going to make you or me any better"

"Then maybe you should sit out the whole damn month, you need to learn some respect and discipline Torres and either its from me or elsewhere you'll l…." our raised voices seem to have attracted a couple lookers

"ENOUGH! People are staring at the both of you, take this outside" Bailey said from behind the both of us, both me and Richard heaving heavy breaths and out chest rising from the noise and yelling

"Get out of my building Torres, get the hell out Now!" he said pointing to the door

"Say it Richard! Fire me if you can" I waited for the words, but I guess now we know exactly who was in charge here "That's exactly what I thought, you can't", Bailey's eyes going back and forth from Richard to me trying to understand the scene in front of her and obviously not liking the words coming out of my mouth. "I'll take that week Richard and I will be back next week" and I turned and slammed his door a little harder than usual and walked into the elevator all eyes on the scene that just unfolded words might not have been heard but actions were seen and I was the one everyone was staring at, I didn't miss the side chats and whispers as the elevator doors were closing leaned heavy against the walls of it as the door finally closed, ran my hands through my hair and down my face to wipe off my stress and smother the need to vent and yell at something, anything right now, Decided it was best to cancel lunch with Mark and Teddy and just go home and do something that didn't involve talking or more damage to myself.

It wasn't far behind; the lecture from Mark or the yelling from Teddy, I expected them to leave lunch, get to work and hear the side gossips and once the twisted sisters know about it so does the entire firm. It was just a matter of time before they both come flying into my living room, each armed with verbal weapons to thump me with so I decided not to go through all the talk sober opened up a bottle of red and didn't bother with a glass I was halfway through the glass when the heavy banging on my door filled my living room, looked at the half bottle of wine in front of me and knew I had enough alcohol in me to endure the yelling about to happen,

"What the hell happened Torres, thought you were going to give him an update" he said while bursting in and walking into my kitchen and rifling through the alcohol cabinet too when his hand grabbed the bottle of vodka, he turned to get a glass but decided that wouldn't help the case at all, the while I stood at the threshold watching his frustration

"Wanna let it out?" My arms crossed over my chest just waiting for his dam to explode

"Torres when? Hmm? When will it all stop? This need for you to act out of place even when you don't need to?" at this point the vodka wasn't even his concern he was facing me with a face I had never seen, "I'm asking you to stop for once and think about anyone other than yourself"

"Mark it's really not that bad, it was just a little argument"

"LITTLE?! You call that little?" he took a deep breath and his fist hard on the marble kitchen table, "You say you're nothing like Carlos but guess what? You are …." I cut him short

"Don't you dare compare me to him, I am nothing like him"

"Yes you are, and eachtime you lie to yourself that you aren't you become more and more like him" this were the words that always seem to break my spirit, no matter how much I tried I was starting to become that man I swore I would never become.

"I am nothing like him"

"Then be better than this Torres, I know it hurts but sometimes you have to look past that for the best of yourself"

"You don't know half of it, you don't know how I feel"

"Then talk to me let me help"

"NO! I don't need help, I can deal with it on my own"

"You keep saying that but I'm not seeing the improvement, im trying to help but you wont let me, I hope you let someone in soon"

"Mark! Mark!"

"Goodnight Cal" and the heavy door slammed

**I really don't need anyone I'm fine on my own.**

I'm open to your opinions and criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: This is my first writing so please be nice with the criticism, I pay a lot of attention to details so the story might be stretched a little but with time I'll start to adjust and make it all come together, I'm open to your thoughts and opinions, this story is purely creative. Enjoy!

Pairing: Callie|Arizona

Chapter 3

I figured Arizona would hate me by now cause I called her to ask for a raincheck on our little tour of Seattle and that was 3days ago I guess I just wanted some time alone to myself after all that craziness, been holed up in my house the entire time listening to classical music that made my skin crawl and doing some long laps on the jogging tracks every morning, maybe Webber was right I do need some time to clear my head and think straight again **figuratively that is, **and like every hard and painful workout i went home showered and decided to have breakfast at Johnny's instead and after getting Arizona's contact from Teddy I decided to test my luck a little and ask her out for breakfast and hope I haven't totally blown my chance with her. Hit the call button and then the end button twice before finding the guts to make the call

***Ringing* **mentally forming the conversation in my head and hoping it goes that way.

"**Hello?"**

"**Hey its me Callie, from the bar the other day"**

"**Heey the prodigal tour guide returns"**

"**Actually I'm trying to reclaim that duty, minus the prodigal"**

"**Yeah? What do you have in mind?"**

"**Breakfast! Do you want to have breakfast with me? And then Seattle after" **my breath stopped and now my thoughts started to run wild in my head what if she says no she has to work or that she's just not interested anymore? **"and there's coffee lots and lots of coffee"**

"**Darn! A writer's weak spot, you know just how to ask don't you?"**

"**Just reclaiming my duties" **I heard a soft cute chuckle

"**Sure! breakfast sounds delightful, text me the address"**

"**Will do" **the line dropped and texted her the address to Johnny's and the smile on my face almost looks weird and then I started thinking maybe I didn't look good enough, maybe there was something on my face, maybe my hair wasn't looking too good, maybe my jacket was looking faded from a particular angle, thoughts flowed through my mind and eachtime I'd mentally pat myself on the back that I was a Torres we never go out without looking our best so I was sure I looked amazing, but something about this woman knocks me off even when I'm expecting the hit.

Waited for a couple minutes and when it started to feel a little like I had been stood up, I looked up from my phone and saw this perfect blonde woman standing at the door scanning the slightly crowded café for me so I waved her over and the dimpled smile was out to get me again and I knew she was some kind of trouble,

"Hey! You look nice" she complimented as she took the seat right across from me she looked amazing in her jeans that made her ass unbelievable and her shirt with the weird designs on them almost like something a hippie would wear but she was too cute to be one,

"Thank you, you look nice too" I figured I sounded a little shy I was about to recover with a cute witty line when she picked my fork and started eating my pancakes, it has to be the cutest thing ever but I wasn't going to start smiling like a lovestruck teenager crushing on a college freshman,

"Hope you don't mind" she said with the fork sticking out from the side of her mouth, her hand on the handle, I just shook my head wordlessly with a smile that made her smile grow wider I pushed the coffee her way too and she just drank from it like we had been doing this forever, "You might want to order more of this, so what's on the itinerary for today?"

"Errr I was thinking that we could….we could…well i…"

"You didn't think past breakfast did you?"

"No"

"Perfect! I was hoping I'd get a chance to show you a couple things I love about Seattle and you were right I couldn't have picked a better place to write"

"Yeah? How is the writing going?"

"More buttermilk pancakes and I'll give you a summary of my book and more coffee" I waved the waiter over and I couldn't help but stare at how free she was and she even made a joke with the waiter as she asked for a refill and more pancakes, I was lost in thoughts definitely staring at her inappropriately but right now I didn't care until she broke my lingering stare,

"So Calliope huh? That's not a name you hear everyday" my eyes wide with surprise the only person that has ever called me that name hasn't spoken to me in a while

"Arizona huh? That's not a common name…wait how did you know that? I never told you" she giggled and stuffed her mouth with more pancakes

"No pancakes for you? Teddy told me about that"

"Chocolate chipped pancakes were the one thing I was craving, but that wasn't on this morning's menu" I gave the buttermilk pancakes a funny stare, "Wait! You and Teddy talk about me? I could tell with the look on her face she wasn't expecting that question at all and she tried to recover,

"Oh look Calliope there's a…boy on a bicycle" she said while pointing outside the glass frame window of the cafe that viewed the street

"Cute!Really smooth, Really nice recovery" this made both of us chuckle and the fact that the conversation between us was so easy and playful made the fact that I decided to test my luck all better

"I try! I have been told I make the best chocolate chipped pancakes ever, if there was an award for that I bet I would have that" by then she was done with her pancakes and sipping on her coffee

"Oh yeah? I bet they lied" she faked a gasp and put her hand on her chest to feign hurt which made me smile, I didn't want to say something to mess anything up with her

"Come on!" she stood up and stretched out her hand for me to hold, "I will make you a tray of chocolate chipped pancakes if you come to this show with me" she could ask me to walk on hot rocks with her and I wouldn't even care or walk blind folded on a building ledge and I would not protest, I reached out and held her hand.

"Arrrgh! I really cant say no when you go there, wait! I have to pay for the breakfast"

"My aim exactly, don't worry about that i did that a while ago"

"Where are we going?"

"Have you ever been to the Seattle college liberal arts department?"

"I have a feeling this isnt going to go well" she started laughing at the clueless look on my face

"It's an drama show, you're going to love it, I promise"

"College drama show? I doubt that"

"Come on don't be a snub! You're going to love this particular show, and then all the pancakes you can eat" before I could even try to object, a blonde woman is pulling me into the back of a cab and yelling directions to the cabman, being spontaneous has never been a quality of mine I had my day planned down to the last glass of wine I was planning to drink with that pepperoni pizza I was planning to order at exactly 7:00 and the channels I was going to flip through while eating that,

"Your face makes it seem like we just planted a bomb somewhere and now we're running away from being caught"

"It kind of feels that way, yes" she smiled and we talked in the cab its like the conversation just never stops, she always had words in her mind and something crazy up her sleeve and a fact she needed to make me know, she was perfect and very different, Carlos would get an exorcist if he met her she was a ball of fire and so full of life. We got to the college and it wasn't as horrific as I thought it would be and all the while she would stare me as I was scanning the entire institution with my eyes and taking in the view then I felt her fingers interlock with mine i glanced over to her but she didn't act like it was a big deal when deep down I'm skipping like a country virgin. We entered the hall our hands still in eachothers,

"ARIZONA!" a guy in pink tight pants that I could see his butt dimples from and a transparent shirt came crashing into Arizona his arms round her neck in a rather tight embrace

"You came! Oh my God! I'm so happy that you're here I didn't know that you would show up…i….am so….i just cant…."

"Ethan breathe, in through the nose and out through the mouth okay? Go and work on the show and I'll be front row sit" and the skinny guy in the way too tigh clothes was skipping out of sight

"Okay explain!"

"They are doing a show on my book, their book club read my book a couple weeks ago and want to do a show on the story with a spin of humor" she was standing with all her attention to me

"And you promised I'll enjoy it cause it was your book, ugh! You narcissist" her laughter was loud and she put her hand over her mouth to avoid stares from he sudden burst of laughter

"Hey Ms Robbins you can sit in front row, right there" a guy with an headset obviously part of the ones directing the entire show pointed to an empty sit right in the front which was just one

"There should be one for a friend. We're two here Joshua make it happen or we'll be sitting up there" she gave him a pat on the shoulder in a nice way that I would probably never do, would probably be throwing money around and yelling orders at the people. And a few minutes later we were ushered to the front sit and the lights went out

"Don't say I never took you to a concert ever" I think my laughter might have caused some people to stare towards the both of us and then she took my hand in hers again for the third time today, but who's counting right? "Incase you get scared heard drama shows can be really brutal"

"Yes heard so too, now shhhh I'm watching your work" she smiled even with the dimmed light I could spot her dimples and I was glued to the show and found it a little funny and occasionally I'd notice her staring at me and her grip on my hand never loosened, the show was taking a while but I didn't seem to mind it was my week off and I was in the company of a very beautiful blonde and I wasn't complaining at all.

Finally the show came to an end the lights came back on and a round of applause was given to the whole drama crew on stage and Arizona was on her feet clapping and yelling and then Ethan took the mic and invited her to the stage, she tried to shy away but after a couple shoves and teasing she walked to the stage and she was there so fast I'm wondering how someone that eats so much can move that fast, she gave a speech about how they made her laugh and how much she loved the show and she smiled and turned to face me from the stage like she dedicated her little speech to me.

"So what did you think?" she asked as we were walking out of the hall and back to where ever the day was about to sway us

"It was really creative, I would love to read the book"

"Awesome I'll get a copy across"

"So your place or mine?"

"WHOA!" she stopped dead in her tracks and gave me a raised eyebrow and a 'what the hell' kind of stare down

"I meant for the pancakes you goof, you do remember dragging me here with the promise for that right?" I said with a smile

"No pancakes yet, we have two more places to see, come on!"

"You're going to make me starve all the while? Have you no soul?" she started laughing and this time bent over and held her side

"Come on! My second favorite thing about Seattle its an art gallery you're going to love it"

"Oh they are displaying your book too?"

"Ha Ha funny you!" and we were off on another unplanned tour and with each little trip there was a joke to be told, something to be said and I kept trying to avoid the hand holding cause I think I'm the only one feeling there's more to it than just palms touching. The gallery wasn't that far and the whole cab ride she was telling me how much of her writing she had done in 2days and how impressed she is that she's sticking to her work a little more this time and I couldn't stop staring at how chatty and delighted she was about almost everything I was almost unreal whatever she was. We stopped at this art gallery and we entered the building, it was really beautiful and colorful and everything seemed to smell like paint, she was showing me her favourites and the ones she thought looked like they were painted drunk and by a child and we laughed and had people stare at us like we were rascals for making noise in an art gallry for some reason its rather quiet in those places.

"Come on!"

"Has anyone ever told you how bossy you are? You're just nice and cute when you're doing it"

"oh so you do admit I'm cute"

"Errr…oh look there's…" I'm looking around the empty for something to blame it on

"Hmm no boy on bicycle to blame it on huh?"

"Sadly no!" she giggled "what are we doing in this empty room?"

"Lay down with me"

"You're going to have to woo me first or buy me dinner" and with that statement I think I broke her cause she was on the floor laughing

"No! you goof I mean come down here, lay on your back and look up" I did so and there was huge painting right there on the ceiling

"That's the artwork from Twelfth Night I read that as a kid, my nanny used to read me that"

"You had a nanny growing up?"

"Nannies! We had more than one" I tried to avoid eye contact cause most people stare at me with pity and have different conclusions

"We?" she asked all but sudden with her face turned sideways now facing me

"Me and my sister, Aria"

"Why shakespeare? What ever happened to goodnight moon?"

"My parents didn't have time for that, so Graciella read whatever book she could lay her hands on"

"You want to stay for a while longer and stare at Olivia and Malvollo?"

"Yes please, its really beautiful" she just shuffles in closer to me and gives one more lingering stare before turning her head back to the painting, other people joined us in the room they laid down too.

After a couple more minutes of silence I looked at her and said "One more stop and then pancakes?"

"You're like a sweet nerdy kid aren't you"

"If you're holding chocolate chipped pancakes over me? I'll be anything"

"That sounds vaguely dirty" I stifled a laughter and was on my feet lending her a hand to help her up and we were out of there and to her next spot, never again would I let her be the tour guide she was terrible at this. And there we were at the hospital where Lexie works and I know that cause I have had lunch here couple times with Mark and Lexie and she walked past a couple places like she was familiar with the place until we walked up to the bench on the edge of a slope that had an overview of some parts of Seattle this was my protest point,

"We're not at the hospital we are here a little far from the hospital, here sit" she used her hand to pat down on the empty space beside her for me to sit on

"That bench has been through all the elements of weather and there are ants all over the grass and God knows what" I said taking a step back and looking around to take the new surrounding in she had her head tilted with a smile

"You are such a snub about everything, you're missing the bigger picture here Calliope"

"I am not! Which is?"

"The view! The ants and 'God knows what' in the grass doesn't matter when you are tuned into that view" she turned and only then did I notice what she was saying it was a beautiful view, I didn't even notice when I joined her on the bench and I noticed it was getting dark and figured it was about to rain or something

"How did you find this?"

"It's a place I come to remember my brother" she said looking straight ahead now it was her turn to avoid eye contact

"Remember?" my attention fixed on her

"Yes he wanted to work here when he was on a break from his tour or something, I don't know what they call it, he came to Seattle and fell in love with the view …" her voice started getting heavier and I could tell its something she didn't want to talk about

"Hey you don't have to talk about if its too much for you" placing a hand on her shoulder and suddenly I cared how she felt

"No its not that, its been over 2 years and it still feels like it was yesterday and I miss him a lot"

"What happened?"

"He'd write me from this spot and he'd describe everything in detail, he said he didn't realize how much he hated the desert until he came here…." she turned to me with a smile, "he went back to finish his tour and just never came back, his last letter said 'you have to come and see it' it took me 2years to even be able to be in the same city he was in" I gave her shoulder a squeeze that made her face me with a slightly seriously look

"You didn't have to bring me here, its for your brother and…well you"

"It's one of my favorite places in Seattle to feel better and I wanted you to see it" I smiled which was mirrored back to me with dimples and blue eyes

"Its getting dark, I think its about to rain"

"I don't think so, its almost 6 so I'm guessing it just getting dark cause its reaching the hours of the evening"

"No one likes a smart-ass" and then I realized I spent an entire day with this woman on partially empty stomach and didn't even feel that time was passing or that I was starving but even then I didn't mind, "Want to stay and stare at Seattle some more?"

"Yes please" we sat there in silence for a couple minutes just admiring the view and some glaces to the side from both of us momentarily the breeze and smell of fresh air was something I really needed, I had a wonderful day first in the entire month and all thanks to someone I barely know and starting to really like.

We left the view and now it was dark and time to go home and neither one of us really wanted to say goodbye atleast I wish she didn't have to and trying to find the right thing to make that happen seems like playing jenga on a rocking boat.

"So still down for the pancakes?" she asked while we were walking down the street from the hospital **,YES! She also doesn't want the night to end.**

"Starv…" it was cut short when my phone went off and it was Mark calling and looking from where the both of us left things some nights ago I couldn't not pick the call and know if he was still angry at me "Excuse me I have to take this"

"Yeah sure"

"**Hey"**

"**where are you? Been at your door for like an hour Lexie is on call and I brought some peace offering pizza"**

"**just stepped out for some air I'll be home in a few minutes wait for me"**

"**okay"**

Line goes dead and I turned to her with an apologetic smile and she gave me the same look she gave me at the bar, "Raincheck?"

"Sure, means I still owe you pancakes and I get to see you again" and with that she was walking down the street

"Where are you going you could always call a cab you know?"

"It's a beautiful weather outside and a little chilly I think I'm just going to walk home"

"Why walk?"

"Sometimes Calliope even the most mundane activities can offer clarity " and she was walking away and down the street "Goodnight Calliope Torres"

"Goodnight Arizona Robbins" I couldn't help but stare at her as she walked down the street with ther hands tucked in her pockets, **OH DAMN YOU MARK!**

Hailed a cab and was home just in time to see Mark on my porch holding a box of pizza and a glass of red wine and suddenly I was hungry for pancakes and something else but that isn't happening tonight obviously,

"Hey thought you'd still be mad at me"

"Can I ever? Though if you had left me freezing here any longer than this I would have been pissed" I opened my door we both stepped in but he made his way to the kitchen directly almost like he lived with me, locked my door and threw the keys on the side shelf just by the door and I was in the kitchen with with him and watched him open the wine and serve up with pizza while I sat on the kitchen stool,

"Hungry?"

"Starving"

"Yeah? What happened all day?

"I was out with Arizona" I was eating the pizza with so much love and joy considering a particular blonde held my stomach hostage all day

"Oh yeah? Blondie gave you another chance after you stood her up?" he said sipping on his wine and pulling a stool right beside me

"Yes she did, wait! How did you know about that?"

"Teddy is very chatty when she's a little drunk, she was upset about something Andrew did but wont come to you cause you had a lot going on so she decided I was the one to spill to"

"She said that?"

"She didn't have to Callie, you have been kind of wrapped in yourself lately and she tried calling a couple times but you didn't pick up"

"Damn it! It is my fault, i….just, I don't ….know how to deal with that and this and everything all together"

"No one is asking you to take it all at once Cal, just take it one at a time and see where that goes, maybe you should call her"

"No I'm not going to do that over the phone, I'll see her tomorrow. Teddy never goes to work anyway"

"Maybe I'll give her a call when I get home, how was the date?"

"She's new Mark, shes impulsive in a good way and a bright color yellow"

"A bright what now?" his confused look pointed straight to me

"She's perky and smiles a lot and makes me forget the time"

"Maybe she's exactly what you need"

"I doubt that, I really don't know anything right now"

"So what did you do today? Anything worth mentioning?" He gave me a not so subtle wink

"You're dirty, you're a dirty dirty old man" we both laughed and ate and fell back into the conversation like we didn't just have a huge fight where he slammed my door almost off its hinges a couple days ago. This wasn't the day I had planned or even if I had thought there would be changes I didn't think it would involve a very beautiful and fun blonde.

Mark left later in the night after we covered everything we missed about eachother for the past 3days and gossiped a little about Teddy and her new hot boyfriend and the husband she's not technically married to but likes, Yes her life is a huge ball of complication and now I was alone again on my couch flipping through channels, it was 10:00 and my thoughts still havent left her and so I decided to call or text or anything, I examined every thought twice 'if I call she might be aslleep then I'll seem like a creeper' and if I leave a text that says 'I know you're asleep and so I'm leaving a message', arrrrgh the whole idea of it all just made my head ache and it was never this hard with Jamie, she heard my name and saw I was a lawyer and figured it was just logical to have a person like me around for when she finally blew up and became famous or stole some else's choreography and got sued but with Arizona I'm actually trying not to screw things up which is a really change in character for me. So after a couple minutes I decided to go with a text,

**-Hey, thanks for today. Really had a good time—Callie **

I started to mentally slap myself when the phone made the swoosh sound that the text had really been sent and then my ringer went off and it's a call from her and I decided to play it cool and let it ring for a while so it wouldn't seem like I was waiting for the call,

"**Hey!"**

"**Am I the best tour guide or what? Sorry about starving you though"**

"**such a sucker for compliment huh? That? You have to make up for"**

"**free this weekend?"**

"**Free for the entire week"**

"**Awesome! How about tomorrow?"**

"**sounds perfect! So your place or mine?" **she laughed

"**the context is obvious in this case, text me the address and prepare to be WOWed"**

"**remember when I go unconscious its 911 you need to dial" **her laughter is fast becoming a sound I like to listen to if possible all day long,

"**Goodnight Calliope"**

"**Goodnight Arizona" **texted her the address and wasn't feeling a bit sleepy and Teddy thinking she couldn't come to me in her time of need was eating up corners of my mind too and I didn't think I would ever be in a place where Teddy thought she couldn't talk to me or call me, just then a knock on my door cleared all my thoughts and dragged my mind to the door and I was starting to wonder who would be here this late I opened the door and my smile grew even though it wasn't the same expression I was getting from the new presence in my house,

"You suck as a friend" Teddy said looking like she jogged over, she was in a red hoodie and black leggings and sneakers her hair in a loose ponytail her hands tucked in her front pocket

"I know"

"You suck as person"

"I know"

"You suck all round"

"Don't push it…I'm sorry"

"Never again okay?"

"Never again, Andrew?" she gave a soft nod, "come here" stressed out my hands for a hug and right now with the way she was feeling I don't think she wanted to protest, I pulled her into a tight hug cause I know that's all she needed even if she didn't want to say the words,

"You owe me details about your date with Arizona and I'm freezing my ass of out here" she said more like a whisper into my neck, I broke the hug

"How did you know about that?"

"Mark is a really terrible gossip and Arizona called and wont shut up about the day she had" I started smiling as we walked over to the couch, "You two are just nerds" she sat down and started ordering me around. "Get me anything to eat and juice, yes lots of that"

"I get that I was a bad friend but I'm not your maid"

"This thing with Andrew just crippled me and I really don't know how I can move to mak…."

"FINE! God! I'll get the damn pizza and juice, you don't need to sulk for that" she chuckled and took off her hoodie and put her leg up on the coffee table like she always does, came back to the room with more food than she would need but that's the first rule of break-up group 'more food, less pain' and I sat beside her and she put her head on my shoulder

"He left"

"There's food and juice and TV and there's me"

"Okay"

"Okay" we spent most of the night talking about the irrelevant things and her laughing at my little crush on Arizona and right now I didn't seem to mind what she was laughing at cause she wasn't feeling bad about the fact that Andrew left.

Tell me how I am doing so far, thanks for the reviews so far


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: This is my first writing so please be nice with the criticism, I pay a lot of attention to details so the story might be stretched a little but with time I'll start to adjust and make it all come together, I'm open to your thoughts and opinions, this story is purely creative. Enjoy!

A|N 2: THIS IS AN IMAGINATIVE WRITING…SOME THINGS DON'T TALLY WITH REALITY! The rape case can't be completely discussed because that would be a spoiler for what's coming!

Chapter 4

Heartbreak is something we have or will go through at some point in our existence; maybe from an event that doesn't even concern us like plane crash that claimed a lot of lives or from a sad story of someone else's life but the one that is more common is the one from our loved ones.

"Okay I get the fact that you're heartbroken but what does it have to do with me?" I said yelling from the edge of the bed at the skinny woman spread out on the bed like she was trying to make a snow angel out of my sheets

"You were the devil whispering in my ear to date Andrew and now? Now he has left" now she was covering her face with a pillow

"I remember that part I don't remember shoving your tongue down his throat though, that part must have wiped out"

"Yeah amnesia! Asshole!"

"Arizona is going to here sometime today and I don't need her seeing you laid here yelling 'it's over' all over the place"

"This is what our friendship looks like?"

"We'll edit this new development in our friendship contract later today ill pencil it in"

"I hate you"

"You love me, now get up, shower cause you smell like cheese and a little essence of feet" now she was throwing pillows at me

"I need breakfast and lunch and dinner in this bed, I need the clothes to graft into my skin" she said now covering her entire body with the sheets, "And I need to listen to some Taylor something songs to set the mood"

"Oh don't be a drama queen this isn't healthy, the Taylor something songs could help though heard she's really down there with the break-up songs"

"Arizona won't even know I'm know I'm up here I will be as silent as a grenade"

"You do realize that doesn't make sense right?"

"Before you pull the string thingy that makes it explode it's pretty silent"

"Fine! Would you shower at least? You smell really funny" all I got in reply was a middle finger sticking out of the sheets.

"Alright don't shower you can keep smelling funny, you want breakfast?"

"I want pizza, and cake, and ice-cream, and a jar of Nutella"

"We don't get fat Teddy, that's not us now get up before I come up there for you"

"Leave me alone!"

"If you don't get up I will call Henry and tell him Andrew left" at the mention of her husband finding out that her boyfriend broke up with her she sat up and pulled the covers off her face

"You wouldn't dare"

"I'm desperate Teddy, now come downstairs and let me make you something edible" she got up and took my hand that was proffered out for her. We walked down the stairs and into the kitchen took me hours to clean up the mess we both made in the living room the previous night, I think I'm ready to beg Richard for my job back right about now but I'm not the one going to cry 'Uncle'. She sat down on the kitchen stool with her head flat on the cold marble kitchen table while I brought out the eggs and started cracking and with the coffee brewing in silence when her cracked voice broke the stillness,

"I was meant to all G.I Jane about this but no I was attachment freaking Barbie" my laughter was loud enough to make her laugh too

"What the hell?"

"That's what Arizona called it, apparently the blonde hair and long limbs made it look more like it" I couldn't help the laugh cause a couple days ago I was the one on the other end of the laughter and it felt good to be the standing one, she fell quiet again guess her mind was working overtime,

"Want me to call Henry? He always has the right humor for everything even at a funeral" she let out a breath with a smile

"Going to see him today, he said something about a device they want to implant into him or something, he was pretty happy about it so I guess that's positive"

"You going to talk him about all the things stewing in your mind or you're going to keep pretending you don't like him"

"You're going to tell Arizona?" she sneered walking over to the fridge to grab anything that would quell the horrid taste in her mouth and frozen peas for her head

"Touché, how about we never mention this again?" now pouring the eggs on the hot pan

"Sounds delightful…it's just too easy you know? I help him with his insurance and then we just what? Fall in love? Feels like a story" holding the peas to her head and the cold juice to her left boob which I'm determined not to ask about

"What's wrong with a good story?" I asked a little puzzled while serving up the eggs on her plate and pulling the bread from the toast and pouring her some coffee, "He likes you so what's the emotional hurt for?"

"Heck if I know, Love and its crazy ways of making people act silly"

"Oh so you admit its love" I said hunched over the counter with my elbow on the counter top and my palms holding my head steady with a strange grin

"Shut up" she smiled and chomped down her food like it was about to grow wings and take flight, I just stood back and watched her unleash her inner beast on the food "Are you going to talk to Webber anytime soon or are you still feeling proud?" she asked without looking up from her plate

"I don't want to talk about it" I shrugged and started circling kitchen pretending to put things back in place and opening and closing the fridge

"Okay fine. Avoid that all you can but you're coming in on Monday you're going to have to talk to him, you can't avoid that forever"

"When that day comes" I gave her a crooked smile she just shook her head, glanced at the clock and was ready to start her day with a partially full stomach, she got up awfully fast and went upstairs leaving me to ponder, then I started cleaning up the kitchen which took longer than usual because I was stalling knowing if I stepped upstairs Teddy was going to make that a discussion and I wasn't ready to hear her pick on my acts. After cleaning I was back on the couch with my laptop looking at my old cases anything to keep my mind away from Arizona or Richard Webber or my job that might be hanging in the balance, looking over the video from the 'rape' ADR and all the signs from Amelia say I should look into this some more but this was a cover-up so I wasn't allowed to push the case further than that and I could ask for a fresh pair of eyes for a new perspective but the words that were uttered in that video is a side of me that I didn't want anyone to know I had, sat on that spot watching it over and over for how long? I wasn't even sure myself.

"What video is that?"I slammed my laptop shut, startled by the new company I didn't seem to hear because I was lost in thoughts now hoping she didn't see anything

"Just an old case its nothing" I played it off as nothing and I guess she just wasn't in the mood to press on "That was fast"

"Yeah have to get to the hospital for Henry will you be at lunch at Johnny's?"

"Arizona is coming over" I replied now taking the laptop off my lap and placing it on the coffee table and circling the couch to Teddy "He'll be fine" I said placing my hands on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"I know that" she gave a shallow sigh and a sharp nod and she was out of the door and again I was alone in the quiet house, moments like this make me wonder why I didn't opt for an apartment, And now I have to get ready Arizona would be here any minute.

"Okay what do you think about this one?" Arizona said standing in front a rough looking man with a look on his face that seemed like he was being subjected to torture

"I'm a guy dude, we don't get chills over girl clothes" he said with a nonchalant tone as he leaned back and took a long sip from his cold beer "So this date jitters happens with lesbians too?" Arizona shot him a death glare from the mirror which made the man get up and exit the room

"ALEX COME ON! I need your help" Arizona exclaimed to her long time friend and temporary roommate but she gets no reply in return, she peeks at her alarm clock and looks to her closet again and this time with more indecision than the last time but sheer determination to put on the first thing she picks this time but that determination was short-lived when the first thing she picked was her old shirt with oranges lounging on the sun on the front, "Why is this so hard?" heavy sigh, her hand running through her blonde curls and holding them off her face. After hours of battling with clothes in her closet she decided casual would seem better than her other ideas she walked in front of the mirror and the view wasn't that bad she was fully clad in navy blue skin tight jeans and knee boots and a low cut top that just happens to be cleavage friendly with a sweater jacket and her hair straightened and well styled she was ready to go.

"How come when you were pretending to be straight with me for that date you never looked this good?" Alex asked from the couch as Arizona grabbed the grocery bag and was heading for the door

"I never liked you" she replied as she slammed the door shut leaving a somewhat shocked Alex alone in the apartment, she was out of the building and hailing a cab in record time and calling the address Callie had texted her the previous night to the man behind the steering, on other days the road would have been busy but on the day Arizona had hoped for that it was a free and straight ride. It was a beautiful neighborhood and a rough front lawn obviously she doesn't spend most days at home"Okay she's just one girl" she tells herself as she steps out of the cab and sights the huge house that fit the address, she took a deep breath and the damp air filling her lungs and offering some clarity and comfort, she walked up to the door and rang the doorbell

'Okay maybe she's not home' she rang the doorbell for the second time 'maybe this is the wrong address' and for the third time 'maybe an axe murderer blew through here and is holding her hostage' as a writer one of her flaw and quality was an active imagination. Just then she started to consider option one the door flung open to reveal a beautiful curvy Latin woman with dark hair, brown eyes and an amazing smile, clothed in a loose Tee-shirt and leggings and blue socks with flip-flops obviously dressed for a comfortable free day and looked breathtaking either way

"You look amazing" Arizona complimented, Callie just stood there slack jawed it was a little inappropriate but that's the result Arizona was expecting when she put on that top

"You're too polite, you used the doorbell?"

"Wasn't I supposed to" Arizona replied with a hint of confusion, "You know I could just make the pancakes out here on your porch"

"Ha ha that's funny! Come on in" Callie stepped aside and pulled the door open a little wider for her to step through, it was beautiful big house with a really high ceiling and a spacious living room with an opening that led to the kitchen on the far west of the room and a dining table that obviously has never been used in the living room just by the glass sliding door that led out into the yard, it was a dark room the drapes obviously dimming the rays of light into the space.

"Here I got you something, kitchen?"

"You're giving me your book? Winter winds, that's my gift?" Callie pointed to the kitchen and followed Arizona while flipping through the book

"It's an autographed copy" Arizona said with a hint of pride at the book she'd given Callie while unloading the groceries on the kitchen marble slab

Callie faked a gasp "For me?" another fake gasp that made Arizona raise an eyebrow while giving her a playful stare "Oh my God it's like Christmas morning"

"Shut up and read" Arizona cackled while setting up to make some food, she got hold of some mixing bowls and started moving up and down the space like she had been there before opening cabinets and picking things, Callie sat on the kitchen stool and leaned on the marble top flipping through page but mostly watching Arizona cook in **her **kitchen, almost like a fantasy only the things she was thinking aren't happening…**yet!**

"So you're going to tell me why you're free? Lawyers don't usually get free days like the ones you're having" Arizona asked while cracking the eggs into the batter and watching Callie for any slight shift in her demeanor

"This is my 'take a walk' moment to cool off or something" Callie shrugged and continued with the book with hopes that Arizona wouldn't go deeper

"You hulked out at work?" now mixing the batter and adding some water and adding the chocolate

"I did what? What's that supposed to be" Arizona whipped her head up from the batter like Callie just asked her to marry her

"You have never seen the hulk? The gamma infected man that turns green when he's angry?"

"Green like vegetable?" obviously clueless Callie gives Arizona a sheepish look with the question

Arizona's mouth hanging open while slowly shaking her head "You're hopeless in a cute way, but you're hopeless still"

"Oh so you admit I'm cute?"

"That's all you picked up from the entire statement?" Arizona stopped what she was doing, had her hand akimbo with the other flat on the counter and a raised eyebrow

"All that pertains to me babe" Callie shrugged and smiled at Arizona their stare lingering a while longer than needed but neither eager to find another object of attraction to set their gaze on, Callie offered her a cup of coffee into a mug and offered it to her and the first mixture was poured onto the pan and flipped just in time to avoid it getting burnt,

"Show off!" all she got from the Latina after flipping the pancakes and serving them up on the plate

"There, taste it" Arizona said setting the plate down in front of her, Callie took the fork cut a piece and stuffed it in her mouth and crumpled her face' Arizona expecting a reply

Callie cleared her throat after swallowing gave her a cute smile "I'm not dead yet so I guess that's a good thing" Arizona chuckled and shoved her playfully

"Want to be my sous chef? Arizona asked as she poured the second batter onto the pan

"Oh? You're finally letting me touch something?" Callie stood up and circled the table to Arizona's side of the center piece marble table

"You can touch anything" Arizona replied with a look obviously begging for the double meaning in that sentence to be understood and Callie taking the hint that wasn't all so faint

"Oh really?" moving closer to Arizona and wrapping her hand around her waist to pull her closer into her, Callie breathed out in a low tone "what about that? Can I touch that?" she got nothing from Arizona that signaled she didn't want her to go forth with whatever she had in mind, Callie's other free hand moves to Arizona's face her thumb ghosting over her cheek "can I do that?" Arizona's gaze falls on plum lips and back to Callie's eyes, each able to feel their breath washing over their faces and Callie takes that as a green light and presses her lips on the waiting lips, no protest from Arizona whatsoever as their lips move together like a practiced dance Arizona's hands snaked round Callie's neck to pull her deeper into the kiss, Callie's hands wrapped tight around Arizona's waist pulling her body closer into hers, it started off soft and easy but now tongues battling for dominance and hands roaming body parts as Callie's hands give Arizona's tight behind a soft but demanding squeeze with gets a moan out of the blonde, they break apart when oxygen became a necessity,

"You can definitely touch that again" words out of Arizona through jagged breaths, bruised lips and flushed cheeks their foreheads resting on each others' "I think the pancake is ruined" finally breaking free from each other's grasp and tending to the seriously burnt flap cake that had made a sticky dark mess on the pan, she turned the gas off but right now Callie wasn't worried about the mess she just wanted to continued what it was they started a couple minutes ago that rendered her breathless in a really good way, she moved up closer behind Arizona so close her front was pressed firmly against Arizona's back and she could feel Callie's breath on the back of her neck, Callie's hand round her waist again and the other pushing her gold tresses away from her neck as she trailed soft kisses down to her shoulder, Arizona lets out a supple breath at the feeling of the soft lips against her skin and tilts her head in the opposite direction to allow Callie more contact,

"Arizona turn around" warm breath washing over her neck and hands under her shirt against her bare skin causing a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach and between her legs

"Callie I can't…we just…" trying to speak in between moans her hands palm flat on the counter "can't… just slow…." She lets out another soft moan as Callie sucks on her pulse point and hands under her shirt brushing against her breast lightly which in turn makes Arizona turn to face her using her hands as a barrier between her and Callie both hands pressed firmly against her chest to prohibit further movement "stop!"

"Give me a reason to" baby blue eyes now dark with pleasure stare deep into brown, and once restricting hands now wrapped around Callie's neck to pull her in for a searing kiss filled with so much emotion either can't believe considering they had only been seeing each other for days, Callie pressing her body further into Arizona who was fine with her back pressed against the counter as cream hands grab a fist full of raven locks and tanned hands under Arizona's shirt for a deeper connection, momentary breaks to catch their breaths before their lips were back on each other's, tongues involved in this dance and soft moans from the both of them filled the kitchen and this was fast becoming frenzied when a sweater jacket was being pulled off and tossed somewhere in the kitchen, plum lips leave the pink and bruised lips and was on her neck and sucking on just the right point to elicit a moan from the blonde, Callie scooping Arizona up from the back of her tights and placing her on the counter top without breaking the kiss that had grown from soft to possessive and filled with need in just a little while positioning herself right in the middle of Arizona's legs for a better connection, Callie started tugging at the bottom of Arizona's shirt hinting it was time for it to come off and join the sweater wherever that was, Arizona locking her ankles around Callie's waist which pressed their bodies even closer together, Arizona raised up her arms while Callie pulled off the offending item covering all the parts her hands could be groping with that out of the way soft lips were on her cleavage in no time, Arizona's head fell back and a gasp escaping her lips, hands digging into Callie's neck to urge her further down that path and Callie taking just the right hint pushes her bra aside and envelopes her breast with her mouth with a gentle suck and a loud moan ripped through the kitchen, both lost in the heat of the moment to notice the doorbell blaring through the house,

"Callie…the bell…there's…the door" Arizona speaks out through muffled breaths but Callie was way too busy to pay attention to the trigger happy fingers pushing the doorbell button

"Whoever it is will go away" but was she wrong the ringing continued and even more relentless, she stops knowing the mood has been slightly dampened and will be worse once she steps out of the kitchen to pay attention to the interruption, she put her head on the crock of Arizona's neck and sighed detaching herself from the blonde and quick peck on her lips and she was off to yell at the unwanted company, Callie held on to the door handle ran her free hand through her hair to smoothen it out and straighten up herself and then she opened the door,

"Mark? Are you kidding right now? Why? Why do you have the worst timing ever?" stepping out to join a confused looking Mark on the porch

"What did I do? Wait! You're not even going to let me in" he replied in a confused tone

"NO!"

"Okay? Why do you look like that? Like you have been face planting something" his eyebrow raised his mind obviously streaming for reasons why I would be flushed after the realization hit him he whispered in a low tone "Blondie is here? And you two?"

"I'm outside talking to you how do you think that's going?" her arms crossed over her chest with a deadpan stare

"Derek proposed to Meredith today and they want to celebrate at Giovanni's tonight" he said obviously stalling cause of something else he had in mind

"And what Mark? What? Let it out"

"Erica Hahn is back she just got off training wheels to practice again a few weeks ago and she's in Seattle thought you might want to know seeing as you were the reason she got banned to practice in the first place" his sight shifting up and down her face as he watched her process the new information

"We don't talk about this, we don't! Happened years ago and it stays there" Callie replied with all the calm left in her "I'll be at Giovanni's tonight"

"Callie" Mark murmured

"We don't talk about it! See you tonight" she walked away and back into the living room she wiped her face and tried not to let the recently received news affect the rest of her time with Arizona as she made hurried steps into the kitchen

"You really don't have to do that, I liked this scene better minutes ago with less clothes" Arizona tending to the dishes looked over her shoulder to find Callie leaning against the threshold with her arms crossed over her chest and a grin

"Callie I don't want to do this, I have done fast, I have done quick and…" Arizona turned around from the sink and leaned on the center marble counter

"Wait! What exactly are you talking about?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter Calliope, I meant relationships I like you and I don't want to rush whatever this is" staring right into brown eyes which mirrored genuine care back in return

"Alright I respect that, so how do people usually take it slow from practically dry-humping each other?"

"I read somewhere that people go on dates and try to know each other better and they…" Callie interrupted her fact sharing moment

"Go on a date with me then, not as friends this time" Callie walked over to Arizona who had a dimpled smile and a playful grin "I mean it cause I really like you"

"I thought you'd never ask" full dimples out on display "but first you're stuck with that before you can get into my pants" she pointed to the novel on the counter Callie ditched before their intense moment of heat

"If I had to read a book to get into a girl's pants I wou…" the realization of what the sentence was shaping up to sound like hit Callie when she turned to face Arizona who had her face scrunched up waiting for the end of that sentence

"You want to finish that?"

"Nope! Not at all" Arizona chuckled and again Callie was back on a barstool and flipping through the novel she was holding and staring at Arizona only this time all hints of subtlety gone "But we can still make out?" laughter bursting out of thin pink lips

"No!"

"Cuddle?"

"Maybe"

"We could just hightail to a nunnery you know?" Arizona loving the fact that she had Callie cornered just couldn't stop laughing at the words coming out of the Latina.

More hours of listening to Arizona's list of change in my home video collection and my song playlist and everything about my décor, she at one point called my house a bat cave and pancakes were finally served. It was the most amazing time I had had in a very long time and it felt so natural how we could joke about anything and be serious about everything I wanted more of her right now and every other time of the week and hours of the day she was all I could think about and it felt amazing. After she left later in the day I left the house for Giovanni's to congratulate Derek the proper way,

"The man of the hour everyone Derek Shepherd single no more, Cheers!" glasses clanked and shots we're thrown back and more alcohol to be guzzled before the end of the night "Drinks on me tonight!"

"Thanks Callie, thank you so much for coming"

"And miss Derek Shepherd the Law man of the month's proposal party? Heck no!" he laughed threw back another shot

"I want to find Mark" I yelled over the noise of the crowded section of the restaurant

"He should be at the bar I saw him there a couple minutes ago" he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb

"Alright thanks" walked over to the bar but not before saying "hey Derek! Congratulations I'm happy for you" and made my way over to where Mark and Bailey and were laughing about everything that passed them in the bar obviously intoxicated,

"Where's boozebag she should be the loudest at the bar right about now?" I said taking my seat next to Mark

"Boozebag?" Miranda with a bemused look mixed with intoxication

"Altman" Mark replied causing Bailey to snort tequila from her nose while laughing so loud

"Well she's really drunk" I said giving Bailey an amusing stare

"She said something about carpeing the diem and going to see Henry" Mark answered while talking a long pull from his beer "Oh and how being celibate was killing her life essence"

"Sounds a lot like something drunk Teddy would say, at least she's getting something"

"You and Blondie didn't happen?"

"No she's taking things slow which I'm fine with" I said with a shrug and ordered for more shots cause only that can cure being left high and dry

"When Jamie said that a couple months back I remember you saying you weren't waiting around to be the Romeo in her story, Blondie got you cornered down cold"

"No she doesn't"

"So are we going to talk about this Erica thing? Or we just going to avoid that she's in Seattle for only God knows why"

"I don't think it's anything, she has family here she could be here for personal reasons Mark not everything has something to do with something, leave the lawyer in you outside the door and drink"

"Going to talk to Webber?"

"Tomorrow, free days don't just work well with my DNA"

"Speaking of DNA you might want to give Blondie a heads up that your father will be wandering into town soon"

"She's not going to meet him, it's going to be brief and quiet I can't have her hating me before we can even get a chance to figure out what we are" Mark chuckled

"He liked Jamie though"

"Jamie was a figure head she would suck up to anything and anyone for acceptance, Arizona is nothing like that she's just so down to earth and natural"

"Down to earth and natural? Why don't you just propose to her already Cal? You really like this one I can tell"

"I have a feeling I will screw this up somehow, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop"

"Sometimes good things are good things maybe this is the good karma you have been waiting for"

"I Hope"

"Think I'm going to get out of here, I need to get home to my girlfriend she's not on-call tonight" guzzling the last of his beer and he was off the stool with a quick peck and promise to rendezvous the next day he said his goodbye to the rest of the gang and he was out the door.

I hung back at the bar for a much needed thinking session which never seems to happen in that quiet house of mine, random thoughts about why Erica was back in town and how to deal with an overbearing father and thoughts of Arizona seemed to cross out alternating feelings. I had barely known her long enough to call her my girlfriend but the fear that I might screw things up and never see her again was starting to chew holes in my mind and this side of me she'd never met feels like the start of our biggest problem yet to even surface. So the best thing to do is hide this part from her till I am confident she feels something profound enough to overshadow the flaws I clearly possess.

For those that say I need a beta I tried but it's coming up as an error here. Why is Erica back in town and why won't Callie want Arizona to meet Carlos?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: This is my first writing so please be nice with the criticism, I pay a lot of attention to details so the story might be stretched a little but with time I'll start to adjust and make it all come together, I'm open to your thoughts and opinions, this story is purely creative. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

They say the best relationships are the ones that bloom from friendship; they are said to the most amazing of all because you can be yourself a 100% around one another. But what is a 100% when you're an arrogant, pompous liar?

A long morning's work pulled in the late hours of the day, it's been 3week and 5days since I stepped back into the firm; case files piled in roles of threes and disposable coffee cups littered the floor as I had been working late and making up for lost time Webber was sure to make me suffer for my temporary loss of sanity. It has officially been 3week since Arizona and I put a label on what we were and it had been good; keeping the side that I didn't want seen private and showing the side I figured wouldn't have Arizona running for the hills.

"Callie? I know you're busy and all but your 6pm is here, conference room 2" Cristina wasn't exactly back to being chummy but that had something to do with her love life which I wasn't interested in stepping into, but after direct orders from the girlfriend to apologize for being out of line I was clear on that front.

"No it's a personal meeting, bring him up here" Cristina with the weird face was out of the office, the idea of cancelling dinner with Arizona tonight was biting the back of my mind but with Erica in town lingering for only God knows what every other thing goes to the backburner even **Arizona **as painful as that might be and with Carlos on the radar I will be seeing less of her.

"Calliope Torres, it's been how long now?" the short man in the pinstriped 3piece suit, excessively scuffed shoes and touched up hair said with a wide grin as he sat parallel to me with one leg crossed over the other

"George O'Malley, how about we don't talk about how long It has been" George O'Malley was the scum of the earth; he was the man that would dig your grave and smile while he pushed you in and covered you to rot 6feet beneath and would feel no remorse and also one of my oldest friends, "I want to talk about your boss"

"Owen Hunt?" he feigned innocence, one of his many graceful talents. "Not sure why you would…" I cut him off

"Cut the crap George and tell me why she is back' I growled him

"Take a guess Callie, oh wait let me help you with that; Erin Dawson! That's all I can think about" he replied a little too quickly for my mind not to doubt that he wasn't up to something

"Erin Dawson? I want to know what she knows when she knows it"

"I am not your pawn" he retorted with a vile smirk and adjusted in his sit

"How about I remind you that you stabbed her in the back for her job and planted the evidence that got her license taken, so about you be the snake that you are and find out what she knows" I said in a calm and hushed tone it wasn't the time of the day to start yelling or making things difficult.

"Consider it taken care of; we'll talk at the dinner? I suppose you will be making an appearance?" all his protest finally dissolves and he was making his leave. "You might want to make a call to Larry; I won't have her destroy what I have spent years building"

"You mean what she built and you took?" I replied sharply and pointed to the door

"Oh sure I'm the bad guy here we all did what we did 3 years ago with no regrets and now she shows up and suddenly you're shifting blame?" he made a beeline to the door almost in a dramatic way to make his point known and perfectly understood. "I betrayed her cause I wanted the job, she was your girlfriend why did you?"

"We'll see at the dinner" faced buried in the files to avoid the satisfactory smirk my silence gave him

George wasn't exactly the kind of friend you call in the middle of the night when you have a flat tire and trapped in the middle of nowhere but once you have something over him; he's as loyal as they come, and seeing as he had something over me too this wasn't going to be the smooth ride I hoped it would be. How the ghost of 3 years ago was here to haunt me was above my understanding. I knew it was only a matter of time before the ripple of effects started to take place and the people who put a lot of work to make this stay covered were going to start dialing in and what all this bad luck had in common was **ME. **Figured it was all better to start making the moves; take Erica's queen before she even makes an attempt at a pawn, but the sad fact was that she was the victim in all this, it's time to have a conversation with Webber so I made it to his office, cases files and scheduled appointments mattered none.

"Richard?" I asked in a hushed tone as I made my way uninvited to his office

"Torres what is it this time? I really have no patience for another squabble" he said beforehand while waving me off

"Erin Dawson" that seemed to get his attention as he whipped his head up from his paperwork and looked past me to see if the door was shut. "Yeah I thought that might get your attention, that's why Erica came back"

"How sure are you about this?" his reading glasses coming off to show just how serious the mood around us had shifted

"Spoke to George" made my way to a sit in front of him

"Torres you know better than to believe anything from that man, he would kill his own mother to get ahead" Richard stood from behind his desk and began pacing the space.

"We have something on him he really can't do anything stupid" eyes going back and forth trained on Richard's frenetic movements

"Nothing is certain, he could be lying she might be in town settling or anything. We do not worry unless she rips the files out of cold cases then we worry, right now? Nothing is happening. Got it?" a more settled Richard spoke and this time he settled behind his desk again. "We don't worry unless Larry calls"

"You're the boss Richard. Right?" a tense few moments passed with both our eyes on each other with anger trying to iron out the guilt we clearly feel, I was on my feet and out the door and in my office for the 5th time that day and I wasn't enjoying the day so far and the guilt cavalry finally arrived when the text for dinner came in from Arizona.

_**Hey, got chicken noodles for dinner, see you in a few- Arizona**_

Stared at the text for a while unable to pick a reply if to cancel dinner or just pass it off as an unread text make up a lie or something to why I couldn't make it, '**sorry Arizona I'm trying take care of a mistake I made 3 years ago' **or should I go with **'I pushed my ex-girlfriend under the bus and now she's out for blood' **both replies made my head ache

"Callie, Should I still make the prior arrangement for 9pm? I'm leaving or do you need anything?" Cristina was ready to leave the building which was already partially empty which was why it was better to schedule the meeting,

"No! I'm leaving anyway dinner plans"

"Just asked for a yes or no not your late night plans" she rolled her eyes, she walked deeper into the office and closed the door like she was trying to avoid listening ears, "Why were you meeting George today?"

"He is an old friend, just catching up on old moments"

"Your web of lies never end, I know when you're lying you know that right? Not that I care but don't get yourself in trouble" she didn't wait for a reply when she stepped out of the door, she was right I was starting to fall back into old habits and that wasn't acceptable so I will let this Erica thing play itself out before I start panicking or over thinking everything so I will go home to an amazing girlfriend.

"Turn it off, Arizona it's hurting my ears" she just giggled, reached over me and turned off the alarm right beside me and placed a light peck on my head

"You should be up anyway, don't you have a case early today?" her face back on her laptop, she'd spent the entire night writing like most night she stays over at my place. "Your bed hair looks really adorable"

"You stayed up all night?" wiping the last shred of sleep I had in me off my eyes with the back of my palm as I sat up on the bed. "I should shower"

"Yes you should" I turned to look at her with a wide grin and a raised eyebrow.

"I will need some company though, showers are spooky" she smiled and closed her laptop and placed it on the nightstand and made her way over to my side of the bed

"Oh yeah?" she whispered while straddling with her hands around my neck. "Sounds like a really goo…." We both froze midway into a kiss. "Did the front door just close?"

"I think it did" both of us off the bed and slowly heading downstairs to inspect the new company; Arizona pressed firmly to my back with her grip on my forearm tighter than ever as we tiptoed our way down the stairs fingers tightly clenching the banister down the stairs. Finally laying eyes on the new presence standing right in the middle of my living room looking around the space, my heart sunk to my stomach and the need to tap rewind and go back upstairs and ask Arizona to wait up there started to make more sense.

"Calliope" the Spanish man of about 6feet tall in a grey stripe suit with jacquard stitching paired with a black shirt and French lace-ups I never seem to get tired of admiring, he had the style and the arrogance to match; Carlos Torres. I had just drank a whole bottle of vodka in my mind for the reaction I couldn't outwardly express, he tilted his head slightly to glare at Arizona who was still behind me "Well, Calliope don't be rude introduce the company to your father"

His words slapped my consciousness back into my body, so it was really too late to tap rewind. "My apologies, Carlos this is Arizona Robbins, Arizona this is Carlos, my father" she moved forward to shake the proffered hand, I could tell her mind was going at a thousand paces and questions were brewing in that beautiful mind of hers which simply means I'm screwed!

"Arizona Robbins that's a beautiful name, I have never heard of you before what do you do?" still holding on to her hand and his eyes scanning her up and down like she was a slave up for sale.

"I'm a writer" with the signature charm and dimpled smile she'd win anyone over to her side but not Carlos apparently he was just a man of too much irrelevant principles.

"What are your…." I cut the conversation short, because if I let this play out and head down the road Carlos was taking it I would be single by the end of the day

"Carlos! She's a writer and a damn good one, what are you here for?" now I could hear the wheels in Arizona's head spinning as she started back and forth from me and 'my father'

"I would love to speak to my daughter in private hope you won't be bothered Ms Robbins" sudden formality in his tone meant he didn't acknowledge Arizona; I was already having a horrible day. She had a forced smile and turned back upstairs not without giving me a look I didn't recognize but wasn't one I wanted to see anytime soon. We walked in the kitchen

"What can I get you; water, Scotch, A heart?" walked over to the fridge and opened it and closed just to engage my hands in something before it reaches for Carlos' neck out of reflex

"Don't be theatrical Calliope, slumming with a mediocre writer? I thought I raised you better than that"

"You didn't raise me Carlos! All the gang of nannies did" I said pouring some wine into a glass and the realization that a glass wasn't going to get the alcohol circulating fast enough I started drinking directly from the bottle

"Rubbish! I clothed you, a huge mansion over your head and an ivy-league school and a huge trust fund, that's my definition of a father" he growled and stared at me with derision. "A writer? How many books has she written?"

"I can't stand this anymore, what are you here for? I know you're not here for father-daughter bonding so what do you want?"

"I need you on my arm for the dinner tonight, it will be good for publicity and you can meet some old friends and colleagues. Be around people like us"

"People like us?' I shook my head of the silly words about to leave my lips and decided it was best to use the wine bottle as a filter, "I'll be at the dinner"

"I asked my tailor to make a dress that's fitting, it will be here in a couple hours thankfully you haven't grown much in years" now looking through my alcohol cabinet he held out a bottle of red with disgust, "did your girlfriend buy you this?"

"Gift from a grateful client" I would be lying if I said I wasn't like that a year ago but when the comments are towards Arizona everything about that was making me livid. He shook his head at the cabinet and put his hands back in his pocket. "What else do you want?"

"Your ex-girlfriend coming back to town peaks my interest"

"She's just visiting family and if it's anything else I will take care of it" looking down as the half empty bottle and the cloudy feeling I was getting I knew I could stomach Carlos now

"She better be, and you better. If this blows up I won't have you drag my name down to the mud. This better not affect me" his tone was harsh and almost cold but that's expected when you have Carlos as a father

"Father of the year everyone, Carlos T…." my retort was cut off when a blonde figure appeared in the door frame fully clothed this time and obviously ready to leave

"I was heading out and I just thought you should know, it was nice meeting you Mr. Torres" I could tell she heard us yelling and with Carlos' behavior earlier she might start to take steps away because meeting her own family was like dinner with 2 old friends, it was fun and the laughter never stopped but with mine she got looked down upon which broke my heart.

"Likewise, errr….." he feigned amnesia, cradled my head in my hands I knew this was practically the end of the entire relationship

"Arizona Robbins…" and she was out the door faster than I could blink or follow her to try and explain or apologize for my family.

"You're despicable" I mumbled undertone with an eye-roll that made my brain hurt in my skull "I have to get to work you need to leave"

"Watch your tone around me, I called Richard and explained the day ahead he was happy to have a girl named Kaplan pick up the slack from 5pm" I was at wit's end, having him for a father wasn't the best childhood anyone would ask for; it was cold and lonely for a little girl and when that child grows I guess you can expect a liar. "I will be at Archfield for the day; I'll see you at lunch had your assistant pencil it in"

"Kepner, her name is Kepner not Kaplan" the loathing I had for the man standing in my kitchen and slowly driving a knife into my life like it was second nature was grave, but the part that always seemed to make the loathing reduce was the fact that he was family, the only one I had. He just stared at me like I just told him a useless fact about an irrelevant extinct animal

"I have some other people to meet Calliope" he walked over to me and placed a kiss on my forehead and he made his way out of the door and I was alone in my house and hugging the bottle of red closely to my chest like a life vest. Left alone to fix what Carlos had possibly ruined tried to call Arizona but she wasn't picking which means she wasn't in the mood to talk to me which is clearly understandable I barely said anything while my own father tried to sink his fangs into her.

Showered and got ready for work at a rather slow tempo, peeking at my phone to see if Arizona texted back every 3seconds wasn't too easy and joggling that with getting ready, it was chaos in my mind. Finally stepped into the office and the first thing that welcomed me was a perky redhead with a screeching sound for a voice if that didn't make a touchy person angrier I really don't know what would,

"So Webber said I should take some cases off your hands, which is it going to be I'm capable of handling anything and everything you throw at me Boss; mediation, ADR, anything. I think I'm ready…."

"Shut up Kepner and have this conversation with Yang she's my assistant she knows my cases better than I do" walked pass her shocked face like she had been slapped with cold fish but right now I had other things bugging my mind like an impending disaster dinner, angry girlfriend, angrier ex-girlfriend on the verge of setting my life on fire and oh yes my father being in town.

Behind my desk and shuffling through case files and adding more cases to my schedule and more caffeine being ingested and praying for lunch to please approach a little slower, spending more time with Carlos was definitely going to push me off the cliff of sanity and I'm not even going to try to hold on to the edge, feel heavy to the back of my chair and tried to breathe, I can fix this; nothing is broken just yet.

"Penny for your thoughts… Cookies? "Teddy walked into room with a basket of cookies in her hand

"Why do you have so much cookies?" hoping for a simple answer because with Teddy there's always a back-story to something

"Ruth thinks I'm a lesbian she's been making the moves all month and this week I guess we moved to baked goods, lesbians make really good cookies" she sat down on the sofa shoving the cookies in her mouth

"Arizona met Carlos this morning and we were just about to get naked in the shower" the tone didn't hide the sadness for both parts but mostly the latter

"And let me guess she said it's over and moved away from Seattle?" her laughter wasn't at all making this issue lighter but I guess now I was back to the side of being giggled at

"She isn't picking my calls or replying my texts, what do you think is happening maybe her phone has been consumed in a fire?"

"Yes that is a possibility, what exactly did Carlos do?" a moment of pause and she remembered the first time she met Carlos and told him she was a paralegal, that didn't go well either "Oh never mind I'm sure he did plenty"

"This dinner tonight has me on my toes and not in a good way"

"You're going to be seeing Erica there you know? Have you planned your words of apology incase she calls you to the coat closet to kill you" now Teddy had turned my issues into a joke and strangely it made me feel better about the night I was setting up to face, "See you at lunch? I have some files to collate"

"Lunch with 'Daddy'" I huffed out with distaste

"Hmm good luck Callie, and enjoy the lesbian cookies they are delicious" her skinny self was strutting out of my office and off to heaven knows where. Lunch was approaching and I was considering making a detour to the bar before meeting up with Carlos I need alcohol in my system to handle an hour around him.

Stepping out of my second ADR for the day and peeked at my watch and 2:39 and I got a little giddy that I had missed lunch because of work, stopped at Cristina's desk and dropped off the signed files for soft copies,

"Your father called, said to remind you of lunch" she didn't look up from the computer screen

"Thought that passed?"

"He asked me to fax him your schedule and so he'd set up lunch when you had a free time and voila you're free" faking enthusiasm and adding a touch of mockery was Cristina's talent, "Aww daddy's little girl doesn't want to go and eat sour soup off a spongy bread?"

"I really should get another assistant, you're a pain" I could hear her snickering all the way into my office, grabbed a couple things and I was on my way to finish the conversation time didn't allow this morning.

Walked into the restaurant we always have lunch anytime he was in town and walked into the backroom, he was a private man so he'd always make reservations for the private table,

"Calliope, nice of you to join us, this is Caroline Banks I'm sure you're well acquainted with her father?" he said gesturing to a sit beside the lady who looked like some figure off a fashion catalogue, she had a smile that just didn't have **that** sparkle.

"Yes I am acquainted with Ethan Banks, it's a pleasure to meet you" a short handshake and I was ready for this lunch to be over

"She'll have what I'm having, she'll have red instead of white and he passed off the menu back to the waiter, the mannequin beside him ordered something I wasn't even paying attention to I was just waiting for it, the reason he'd brought her here

"So Calliope I figured I would take the lovely Jenna Banks to the event which means you'd be free to take Caroline here as a plus one"

"Actually I was thinking I would go with…" he interrupted

"Oh please Calliope not again with the writer, I have had enough of that for a whole day" he said placing the napkin on his lap. The table went quiet and Caroline just kept smiling at me; only time Carlos ever really accepted my sexuality when it had some benefit to his cause, the unspoken words bouncing in my head and tearing my seams it was time to speak up

"She's a better person that I am" this time I was staring straight at him

"Excuse you?" I guess that got his attention

"She's an amazing writer, accomplished and she has a beautiful mind maybe If you read anything from her you would stop being so judgy"

"Calliope this is not the time for this insanity"

"She has books she's written, she has a place she got on her own and she's known for herself. You got me the job I have, you bought the house I live in and I'm known cause of you so tell me which one of us is more responsible" I knew for a fact a lot of yelling and words of control would be making an appearance at the table soon so I got up and decided to make my way home

"Calliope Iphegenia Torres!" he growled as he rose to his feet in anger

"Nice to meet you…. What was the name again?" the reaction I got out of Carlos was worth every word but the boatload of consequences I was going to get was going to make me beg but for the moment it was worth it. "And I will be wearing my own dress tonight". He was going to spend the lunch practically spoon feeding his client's daughter cause of my ill mannered act but that was for Carlos to deal with

Back to the office, and the reality that wasn't anyone's escort anymore I was free to leave for the event at anytime and wear a dress of my choosing felt like a victory and now Arizona; if only she'd pick my calls.

"Hey! This dinner tonight has everyone on their toes, I just saw Derek's assistant running around with a gown" plopped down in the sofa and his leg on the table. "Cookies? Who are they from?

"Teddy's lesbian stalker, careful they might be charmed" his laughter was contagious

"Lexie was meant to be my plus 1 tonight but instead she's picking a brain tumor over me" he scoffed

"Arizona would have been mine but Carlos ruined that nicely"

"Need I ask?" I shook my head and he just simply nodded

"We could just go together, would be coming late anyway, you and Altman can start off the night before me"

"I have a feeling I will be running into Erica at this thing and right now my words to her aren't exactly planned"

"Just avoid her, are you ever going to tell me anything about what ever happened that got all of you acting jumpy around her arrival?"

"I don't think you want to know Mark, it's irrelevant"

"So irrelevant it has you on edge?"

"Just let it go okay?"

There are rare moments in our relationship where I keep secrets from Mark and a time like this was just as good as any to stay tight-lipped until I can't anymore which I have a feeling would be really soon because now I have something to lose; if I haven't already lost her.

"Are you just going to lay there or you're going to actually get ready?" Teddy agreed to be my plus 1 so I wouldn't go crazy sitting alone with Carlos and his mannequin at the dinner

"It's 7:00 and she's still pissed at me for this morning" my torso hanging from the edge of the bed, laying face flat

"You're going to have a serious head rush with that and a headache before the event, now get up and get ready I can't look good and have you look terrible"

"What did she tell you? Did she say anything at all? Maybe she's taking a break to write and clear her head she does that a lot I'm going insane with the silence" flipping over to stare directly at the ceiling

"Love is a really weird thing isn't it?" Teddy replied from in front of the dresser while touching up her face

"I don't love her, that's insane it's been barely a month that's huge craziness, I mean I really like her and she amazing but it's not love, it can't be love it's just too soon to be throwing words like that around"

"Hmmm riiiiiiight" she turned back to give me raised eyebrow and then turned back to the mirror

"Oh shut up!" it was time to drag myself out of bed and actually into a dress and go for this thing.

Can't be love that's insane I really like Arizona not love that's really more intense and serious than what I have for her. Yes I didn't want her to meet Carlos, I yelled at Carlos because of her, Her silence has been driving me crazy all day and I have dialed her more times than I have called my own father, if that didn't scream it out loud for me then I don't know what would but that would all crash and burn by the time this case starts to boil over the lid we placed on it over the years. Covering up a rape case can always be passed off as bad judgment call on my path but covering up murder and dragging your girlfriend down to take the blame might not be the best base for a relationship, shifting my mind to 3 years ago and I can picture how power hungry we were when we made the decision to let the son of a high chair in the city walk the free roads while the body of an innocent boy was pulled out of the water and pronounced as an accidental death. We stood and watched them pass the file to cold case if there was anything on that file that was implicating it was wiped clean. So no I really can't be in love with her because she would walk out on me and never take a glance back to my direction if she ever found out and that's just not a reality that felt good right now.

Apologies for the delayed update working on another story, Carlos is a real handful isn't he? What do you think the dinner will bring? More issues or just Erica in town for family?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: This is my first writing so please be nice with the criticism, I pay a lot of attention to details so the story might be stretched a little but with time I'll start to adjust and make it all come together, I'm open to your thoughts and opinions, this story is purely creative. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

When it's just you and your consequences the world is your oyster, you can walk the thin lines of life and death. But the moment you have something to lose, something that keeps your thoughts from straying you suddenly won't see walking the thin lines as an adventure but as a risk.

The night ahead was going to go on without any hitch I had the plan to ignore Erica and just have a quiet entrance and exit but that's the worst thought when you have the spotlight hugging father, the plan to let it play itself out keeps playing in my mind on repeat. After smiling and shaking all the people that knew I was related to Carlos I was back in the corners of the hall. The dinner had been going on for 3hours and nothing that errs on the side of unusual had happened, but then again that never lasts for long.

"Ugh! Look what the cat finally dragged in" I scoffed from the table facing the entrance to the hall the event was held in, it was a huge hall with all the rich and smug faces in Seattle and anyone who is anyone in the law world it was a crowded hall everyone mingling but I made sure to get a clear view of the entrance

"Who?" Marks asked pulling his face away from the fat man giving the speech of how his life was amazing and how everyone else in the hall should admire just how, I used to love events like this; I lived for events like this but now it's just a hall where rich people come to whip it out and measure; It's a popularity contest.

"Erica Hahn" her appearance sent a shiver down my spine as much as I would love to deny that I was fine with her presence I wasn't, even if she was visiting family I still wasn't, she was a constant reminder that I was just as bad as George.

"The Hahnmeister, gosh she was such an ass. This feels like high school again where the cool kids would make fun of the ugly ones" Teddy obviously almost drunk through another night finally spilled

"If this is anything like high school Erica is definitely the ugly kid with the overbite and headgear" I finally joked at an attempt to make the mood and storm rising in my mind better

"And to think you two dated" Mark let out halfway to a sip from his vodka tonic

"2months of daily interrogation of why I was breathing through my nose" I was happy they didn't decide to make the pressure of her arrival on my face obvious; they just decided to make the situation light and simple.

"Wasn't that bad though I mean I remember you said…." I interrupted Teddy

"Mention anything about that time booze bag and the next time you see that martini glass would be in your x-ray" the whole table couldn't help but laugh and I then I realized I was back to being calm

"That's a pretty legit threat, think I will use that in court sometime" Mark said with his attention back on the fat man on the stage

"Oh she's just bitter daddy interrupted her little sex session this morning with Arizona and now she won't return her calls" almost drunk Teddy really didn't have a filter, she thought it; then it's out of her mouth and to listening ears

"Sex session?" Mark whipped his head around to stare at the both of us "Already? Go Torres!"

"Shut up you bo…." Now it was time to panic and if I was on a ship right now I would probably walk a plank to escape what was about to happen "Is Erica coming over here?"

"Yes she is" Teddy whispered at least she thought she did, as subtle as a drunk person can be, I guess avoiding her wasn't going to happen since she was the one with more nerve to approach me and I was the coward.

"Hey, Mark Sloan you still highlight you hair I see some people never outgrow things?" she never liked Mark, their back and forth teasing was always a thing that made my day

"Did you get that haircut in jail?" Mark retorted with a wide grin and I guess Erica wasn't expecting that low blow because she always had a reply for everything that came out of Mark.

"Callie can we talk?" she barely acknowledged Teddy but that as always been the system with her and the friends I have, she felt if they were my friends they were exactly like me. The look of both Teddy and Mark's face was priceless they kept staring back from both of us like someone was going to pull out a knife and stab the other; she walked me over to an empty room in the hotel,

"Yes, sure!" I got up and excused myself from the table, even with the fact that Teddy was drunk out of her wits she managed to stare at the both of us as we exited the scene and most definitely sure other eyes would have seen the two of us leave the hall

"How long did you think this avoiding thing would last?" her voice finally broke the silent from behind me as she closed the door to the empty room

"Avoiding? Who was avoiding who?" it was best to play dumb with Erica you just never know the next words

"People talk Callie; they always have something to say even when you don't ask them but when it has something to do with you they suddenly clam up"

"Is there a point to this? If there is Erica I'd really like to know"

"Erin Dawson is a cold case has been cold for a while and if there was anything on it its gone, but then words floating around about a rape case and how it was never made it to trial" now she had a smile and I kept a straight face because a single falter in my expression would give her the satisfaction she's on to something

"Rape cases turn out to be something else all the time, what is this about?" she giggled and took steps closer

"When Robert Donohue's children are involved? It's exactly what is it. How many times will you simply let bad people walk away all in the name of a job?"

"I really don't know what you're talking about, obviously you're on some silly cover-up theory again, look where that got you the first time" this was the time to start panicking, the Robert Donohue rape case was meant to be a cover-up but I did a shabby job at that, intimidation was the best route out of that hole. I could lie to myself all year round that a part of me didn't guess that she was telling the truth but when the job entails certain things I never blink in question.

"Cut the bullshit Callie! You know there's something you did to that case, any reasonable person who has been raped would take this up to the court but no that didn't happen, you did something in that middle and you know it" she was starting to get agitated and her voice was higher than it was when we stepped into the room. "This is what your type do; you lie and cheat, Robert is linked to Webber and Carlos and suddenly a case like that disappeared I will find the pieces if it kills me, you will feel what I felt when you framed me for hiding evidence"

"I DIDN'T FRAME YOU! George did! It was his idea to hide the file in your house and he call the police not me so get off my case, everything isn't a conspiracy you won't even recognize conspiracy if it slapped you in the head and shat in your hands" I had never really considered myself as a snake or anything like George but the moment I pulled him down to save my own secret I realize we were cut from the same cloth, then the moment I wish I could tap the rewind button came knocking on the back of my mind because in those few moments I had assured her that there was a cover-up 3years ago and that her right-hand man was responsible for her downfall, she stood in shock for a couple minutes unable to fully understand the words I just threw at her and I felt guilt and pity just watching her walls crumbled at the words. And the fact that more words out of my mouth was causing her pain was breaking me. "Erica I'm sorry, but I didn't set your career back"

"I was worth nothing! I was worth nothing to any of you; did you even look at the carnage of what you did? Why?" her voice cracked and almost a whisper just so her tears won't fall, the thought that I betrayed her was expected considering I was the worst person in those 2months but knowing her own friends stabbed her in the back while smiling at her wasn't the truth she thought she would be saddled with, not anytime soon. "How coldhearted can you be?"

"Goodnight Erica, have a wonderful night" it was better to exit the scene just in good time before things started to get more out of control, thorns of 3years ago starting to poke through the fabrics of the present and the present haunting me just as well. I walked back to the hall where everyone was standing and clapping with Carlos on stage saying something obviously amusing. The only thing about crossing George was the consequences I was set up to face and if any of these two cases explode to the public I wasn't only facing a likely murder by Larry but the wrath of Robert, jail time, probably lose my license and Arizona walking away from me so I wasn't really remorseful about dragging George down. I made it back to the table and tried to keep my feelings about everything that had just happened in check.

"Are you okay? You two didn't make up did you" Teddy said with a scoff and laughter apparently her words were amusing her which meant she had reached that part of the alcohol effect, my silent and scrunched up face didn't seem to catch her attention,

"Hey are you okay? What did she want?" Mark tried this time

"Nothing, she just wanted me to know that 3years ago happened and she's moving past everything" I forced a smile and threw back the last of whatever it is Teddy was having at that time

"That's a good thing right? I mean then there's no more fretting that she's in town to set your house on fire" he giggled and gave my shoulder a squeeze "You can breathe easy now Torres". Only if it were that easy, at this point there's no more calming down or waiting for it to play itself out I had to do something and fast

"Yeah it's a really good thing" another fake smile but below the surface I was screaming and ready to embark on a one way journey away from all the hurt this will cause, Mark finding out the real things behind Erin Dawson and that it's all been lies and Teddy also, this is going to be pandemonium and the sad reckoning is that it was inevitable, it is going to happen no matter how much I try. "I think I'm going to leave, feeling a little headache coming on" the dinner was already coming to an end closing speeches were given.

"I'll come with you and drop Teddy at your house" Mark said grabbing Teddy who was staring straight at her empty glass like they were having a telepathic conversation. All through the car ride there were side glances from Mark he could tell there was something wrong but he had asked me and I had lied and now he's leaving it up to me to come to him with the truth when I was ready, but when will I ever be ready when the price of that honesty is the loss of a friend. After helping Teddy to the couch and Mark was gone I stared at the lesbian cookies on the kitchen counter and figured they could be peace offerings too, I needed to see Arizona she was a night owl; sleeping wasn't a quality she had. I peered at my watch and it was really late but the pro of being the girlfriend and not the crush is you can show up at her apartment anytime without looking like a creeper. Got changed into something better and grabbed the cookies and off to find out if this was another victory to be won. Pensive thoughts flashing across my mind if this was a good idea but without trying all I have are just 'what ifs' and 'maybes'. Grabbed my car keys and I was off to talk to Arizona; got in front of her apartment building and made hurried steps to her door it was dark and cold.

"Hey" she stared down at the watch on her wrist and back up at me, her eyes narrow and surprised, "Calliope it's late what are you doing here?"

"I know…I know but you weren't talking to me and I had to see you" she held the door open for me to come into the dark room, "and I brought lesbian cookies"

She sighed from the door obviously trying to calm her thoughts from spilling through her mouth, the room fell quiet for what felt like ages and for the while I was scared of the next thing out of her mouth

"Just say it, I can see your wheels spinning all the way from here" my eyes pleading for the words that brought fear to my mind, if this wasn't a victory then I guess I can't blame her

"I tell you about my family all the time; you met them you know about my brother, but the fact that I don't even know yours was clear today" now she was walking away towards the kitchen and doing what I do when I can't stomach someone, she brought out the alcohol.

I stepped into the kitchen trying to understand and think about the exact words to fix this, a lie that I didn't know he was in town or something or the truth; she deserved the honest truth if anything, "Arizona your family; they are amazing how was I supposed to tell you about mine when yours accepted everything about me"

"All I know is you are a lawyer, and you have a sister or had a sister? Pieces of you Calliope and today I met your father who was rather hostile" now she was pacing and drinking this almost felt like déjà vu, this was me a couple hours ago and being on the other end of that didn't feel quite as interesting.

This wasn't a fight I thought we would be having less than a month into our relationship; this was a fight we would be having in 3months or more but then again it's been 3 weeks and I think I might be in love with her but with this right here she doesn't feel the same way or she might have but Carlos has wiped that barrel clean. "Arizona that's why I didn't want you to meet him; he's overbearing. I promise you that there's nothing more to my family than my father, my sister left" **more lies **

"And your mom?" she deserved the truth and even if this wasn't going to be a victory she should at least get some truth out of me, its only fair considering the treatment she got from Carlos

"She left when I was little, she took my sister with her" I circled the table to her and this time every word was genuine and true, maybe I could have said '**nothing important about my family' **or make the fact that my own mother didn't care about me enough to take me along. A fact; but that's not her burden to bear, it was mine. "I promise that there's nothing hidden from you" **more lies**

"You promise" it made my stomach hurt hearing her say that and the fact that all I have been doing is lie and make up stories and excuses for why I wanted to handle everything on my own but was it really worth watching her walls crumble to the ground if she ever finds out?

"I promise" I pulled the shorter woman into my arms and wrapped my arms around her tighter than I needed to, she is really special to me even if this has been just 3 weeks, her hands tight around my midsection her fingers gripping my jacket, I really didn't want to let go.

"Stay tonight" her warm breath on my neck and I remembered I left drunk Teddy alone on the couch and there's a ninety percent chance she's going to roll off the couch and her morning hangovers are the worst, this felt like a victory and that lessened the burden I had been dragging around for a couple weeks

"I left Teddy on the couch and she drank a lot" finally pulling our bodies apart placing a kiss on her forehead, but that wasn't the answer she was expecting

"I wasn't asking you to stay Calliope; I said you should stay tonight" grapping the lapel of my jacket in for a soft kiss, or at least that's what it started out as when it shifted to possessive, I have seen Arizona take control a couple times but this time her kisses her hungry and deep like she was afraid I was hiding something and this was a way to get the remaining pieces out of me, my jacket was peeled off and tossed somewhere on the floor she pushed forward walking me towards the bedroom without breaking the frenzied kiss, clothes not lasting any more second covering our bodies while hands take up the duties groping and grabbing body parts, getting to the door to her room and being pinned to the unlocked door while her lips moved from my lips to my neck, bodies to close I could feel her heartbeat on me. Even with the haze of the sexual arousal the feeling that this was not just her taking control because we had a fight, maybe she heard something when I was arguing with Carlos but with her lips sucking on my pulse point and hands tugging at the waistband of pants the thoughts were a little indistinct, hands fumbling with the handle while lips never breaking contact; door finally opens and I'm being pushing backwards into the dark space until the back of my knees hit the edge of the bed, kicking off my shoes and her hands pulling down my pants to ankle till I was clad in nothing but a bra and pant, breathless words and moans filled the air as hungry hands roam bodies, perfectly fixed between my legs and hovering right above me her blue eyes staring right into my soul I couldn't shake the thought that she heard something from the argument and me telling her there was nothing hidden has kicked her mind into overdrive.

"Arizona what…" the rest of the sentence was muffled by her lips on mine, her hands pressed flat in my stomach and it started to move south to my moisture-laden core, flinched when her hand moved past that thin cotton material covering my heated centre; a loud moan when her hands massage my clit teasing the last grain of sanity I had left; her hands graze my center just the right way, she pushes the thin fabric off me completely, my legs wrapped around her waist for more closure I wanted more of her but she was teasing and pulling the right switch to make my body yearn.

Moans and muffled gasps are the only sounds that filled the roam, hands working magic on heated cores and fingers digging into skin, and the sweet, somewhat salty sweat dripping from the heated encounter as bodies plummet down the edge of pleasure with a loud moan

####

Waking up to the morning sun has never been a nice beautiful moment for me, it is like an alarm you just can't shut up; but that didn't seem to bother me because I was curled up next to a beautiful blonde, naked bodies intertwined and heated bodies pressed against each other, I love mornings like this but even with the perfect moment I kept staring at her waiting to see if the other shoe would drop, if there was a reason to the show of sudden control last night, not that I had anything to complain about she wasn't mad anymore, not being mad at me anymore beats silence from her. Being awake and holding her tight to me with her lavender scented shampoo invading my senses and her warm body making all the rain Seattle could pour down seem to matter less. All the thoughts kept floating around and all that made it all fade was the constant reminder that she was mine **for as long as she'd have me.**

Her word tapped me out of my stream of thoughts. "It's early and we need to get up" she snuggled in closer into the embrace and pulled the cover tighter just to keep the moment longer

"Promise me something" I said out of the blue, the words were out of my lips before consciousness caught up with me and I was left wondering how this would sound, she turned and had her blue eyes on me **those eyes**, "promise me that whatever happen you'll remember us like this" she had a puzzled look trying to wonder what would possibly happen besides my overbearing father making an appearance "Promise me you'll remember that you're mine and that I'm yours". Her dimples were out with a smile that was brighter than the morning sun, her blonde hair creating a cloud over around her head and on the pillow she pressed a kiss on my lips; pulled back slightly and said,

"I promise….I don't have to leave for my Editor's office in a couple hours and you have to shower" she nestled further into the embrace and soft kisses that just felt like forever in that spot wouldn't be such a bad idea. "Want to shower together?"

"Some things you just don't need to ask to know it's a definite YES" she giggled and slid out from under the cover, her naked body strutting right into the bathroom and I was stuck laying there slack-jawed

"Need an invitation?" she didn't need to ask me twice I was on my feet and joining her in the shower in no time

#####

After a perfect morning at Arizona's and more pancakes and more kisses almost forgot there was another world outside her apartment, our own little fort where no one else would disturb. I was out of my beautiful fort and back into the world which was my house, looked on the couch after stepping in through my front door and a particular skinny blonde was missing from her spot which I was sure she crashed from to the floor a couple times, walked upstairs to hear the shower running and Teddy sitting in there still fully clad in her dinner outfit from the night before and looking tired.

"Oh sweetie you are wasted" I said half laugh and half smile

"Screw you! I fell off the couch" she said in a shaky voice she had obviously been under that shower a while, "I hit my shin on the stairs" she said this time almost like she was sulking, "my head feels like it's going to explode"

"Side effects of the entire bottle Teddy" I said pushing myself off the doorframe and walking over to her "get washed up I'll make you breakfast"

"Don't you have clients to see?"

"Not till 12pm…was going to go in for some meetings but ill have Cristina push that till later"

"Okay then I don't want eggs and toast that's all you ever make" she said in a low tone

"It's good to see being hung-over hasn't impaired your sense of mockery"

"Never!"

"It's the eggs and toast or Cereal"

"Fine! Eggs and toast it is and you might want to clean the puke on the kitchen floor first it might have dropped out of me"

"How does puke drop out of someone?" I huffed, making my way back down the stairs and cursing Teddy in Spanish. Tiptoeing my way into the kitchen like the puke was going to sneak up on me **ugh right in front of the fridge.**

Cleaned up Teddy's essence off the floor and set up to make some eggs when a loud bang on my door got my attention; no one knocks on my front door like that except Mark and he's in court for the rest of the morning and after that lunch with Lexie, my hands on the knob to reveal the only person the in the world I wasn't expecting at my doorstep

"Cristina? What are you doing here?" my confused face mirrored back to me with panic

"Where have you been all morning?" she was yelling and Yang never yells she's the calmest person I know

"What's going on" the same expression she had one was now on my face

"The girl from the ADR a couple weeks ago that was around with her father is dead; she committed suicide last night and its only a matter of time before Gary starts talking to everyone and everything that will listen and soon fingers will be pointed to us" my walls were shattering and in that moment a little storm that would wipe half of Seattle away wouldn't be the most horrible thing in the world, my shocked expression wasn't at all hidden"

"Webber is going crazy and he requested for your presence immediately" I was still too shocked to make sense of any of her words or even process them long enough to make calculated movements

"Yang tell him I will be there in 20minutes and nothing longer than that….get back to work I'll be there soon"

"Callie ! is this trouble?" she asked with a look I could have sworn resembled care

"I really don't know yet Yang I need to get ready" she was off my porch and hailing a cab back to work leaving me confused and scared for the consequences piling up on me in just a little period of time

I was ready in record time after telling Teddy what had happened she managed to pull herself off the bathroom floor and into some decent clothes ready to help however way she could, stepping out on my front porch and for the second time that morning a face I never expected was standing on my doorstep and this time it wasn't confusion beaming on my features it was fear.

"Isobel Stevens?" it was fear and a little panic this time because who she works for wasn't the man I thought would be summoning me anytime soon

"Get in the car Callie, he wants to see you" her features deadpan and her demeanor was calm

"Izzie I have work to get to" I said trying to make my way past the blonde but she wasn't taking no for an answer

"GET IN THE CAR CALLIE!" I knew this was the beginning of the consequences of everything wrong I had done and the fact that Izzie was at my doorstep was enough proof of that, I stepped into the car and I was ready for the physical hurt that was awaiting me at the other end of the destination.

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What do you think is going to happen to Callie? Is she in a boatload of trouble or what?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: Without the bad moments the good moments won't be appreciated, yes right now everything seems bad but this is just chapter 7. This is a little time jump from 3years ago to present. This chapter is from an observing angle

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Chapter 7

The first thing that happens when we're sandbagged with consequences of actions from the past is; we remember how it got so bad, what we could have done differently and why we didn't consider the possibility of an effect. And in the end all we're left with is could have, would have and should have.

Callie sat down in the car, hands gripping her tights and rubbing up and down as tension filled her entire body, she wasn't just thinking about the ride to the unknown destination but also the once upon a time rape case that has turn to a suicide case on her table and the thoughts started flooding her senses 'what if I hadn't been so reckless'

**3 YEARS AGO**

Heavy downpour was the most normal thing in Seattle but just 6months in the beautiful city and the Latina seems enamored with the wetness and the gentle thuds of the droplets on the pavement, something about everything offered her some comfort, working in the new firm away from under her father was better than anything even if the firm had its own marbles, a new city and fresh new faces something about Callie's life was close to perfect.

"Callie? Ms Hahn just called to ask where you were" a tiny lady with short red hair entered Callie's office; Reed Adamson she was the firm appointed assistant until she was ready to hire her own

Callie peered up from her laptop with a slightly puzzled expression wondering why Erica would be wondering where she was on a work week. "Tell her I'm on a case and won't be free till later tonight" she was up to something.

"But your schedule is free for the night and you're leaving soon" the tiny lady stood rigid staring at the brunette with a raised eyebrow

"Are you my handler or my assistant Reed? Which one are you?" she gave a nod and was off to do exactly what Callie asked of her, she was done for the day and it was reaching the late hours of the day and the downpour wasn't easing up on so she decided to make her way home for the day but expecting something likened to a surprise and not the good kind. Erica and Callie had been dating for 2months and to say they didn't trust each other all too was seriously understating it, it was a relationship based mainly on mutual benefit and some sick attraction they both couldn't understand, but they kept each other around. Callie got to the front door and slipped her key into the entrance gently; stepping into the darkened space at a slow and quiet pace, she walked down the dark corridor into their bedroom and there she was playing on the bed with case files open in front of her.

"Are those my case files? You have got to be kidding me!" anger broke across her face at the sight in front of her which wasn't the first time it had happened "You need to stop doing this; you do realize this is illegal right?" Callie said moving towards the bed in one stride to pack up all the files and this time into her briefcase.

"I just want to see what you're working on, ever since I figured what you do it's kind of hard not to wonder what you're covering this week" she snapped back in a rather spiteful tone

"You can be mad and you can be pissed it really doesn't faze me, but you need to stop going through my files; its confidential for a reason" Callie retorted and was out of the room with her files and briefcase in hand and slamming the front door as she made her way back outside into the stormy Seattle streets.

#####

**PRESENT DAY**

"Get down, he's waiting for you under the shed" Callie made her way into the open space and there he was under the shed beside a pool; Larry Jennings the man had the backbone to put her 6feet beneath and deny ever seeing her and the police wouldn't bother doing a second sweep search for her body, he had all the big names in the city in his back pocket and checkbook to write off his troubles, took a deep breath and walked to the shed and took a sit

"You want to explain to me what that package means? If it is a prank I really didn't find it one bit hilarious" his gaze still on the beautiful scene which she was thankful for. She picked the package and brought out the papers and pictures in them and immediately her head fell to her hands **could my life really get any worse right about now. It was like I was testing the universe to throw its worst curveball, **"It was delivered to my doorstep by hand whoever did this either has a sick sense of humor or a death wish, but I'm not laughing Torres which do you think it is?" his ice cold gaze finally find the brunette who now looked shaken

"I don't know, this isn't suppose to exist" she kept flipping through the files and pictures with her mouth agape and shock evident on her face, the tension in the air was almost palpable

"If this gets to certain hands things start falling apart…Callie you would beg me not to exist you held this over me for years and I held up my part of the deal now hold up your end!" a shudder down my spine and my pores started to break sweat but I kept an unruffled expression, it wasn't the first threat out of Larry to fly my way and the last time he actually did make do on the threat when a nine millimeter handgun bullet grazed my shoulder, the brunette gave a sharp nod in reply. "Would love to continue this conversation but places to be and people to see" he got up from the chair and straightened his suit "Isobel will show you out" he said and walked out of the large space, she relaxed into the chair staring at the pool while clutching the package to my chest it was an open space but it felt like she didn't have oxygen supply **what the hell is going on?**

Izzie escorted her off the compound grounds and she was left to hail a cab back to work, her thoughts echoing off the corners of the cab, her head leaning hard on the door window; eyes staring lost into the Seattle streets, deep down in Callie's mind she knew this was the time to panic, the time to call for help to tell her friends what's been going on, the time to speak up and do something before whatever this is starts to ask for answers she can't give or starts claiming relationships she so dearly cares about. Stepping back into the firm she was set for another bad news it started to feel like a perfect storm; everything that could go wrong was going wrong all at the same time.

"Where the hell have you been? When I said be here immediately I meant yesterday Torres" Webber yelled upon the arrival of the Latina who just shrugged and walked past him like she didn't hear his words "I'm talking to you Torres"

"We need to talk in your office, right now" she held up the brown folder and walked into the elevator she was shortly joined by the older man in a red sweater

"What is that?" he pointed to the file which the brunette didn't waste time handing over to him, he scanned his eyes over the files and his face dropped, the color from his eyes drained and he leaned against the elevator wall "where did you get this?" he asked his eyes still glued to the files in this hand

"Larry… he—he had them with him, said someone delivered it to his door step, he made some not too subtle threats…Richard I think it's time we started talking" she said her voice low and choked it wasn't looking easy anymore

"Nothing is happening, nothing at all! We find out who the idiot playing pranks is and I'll take care of him" handing back the folder my way and he steps off the elevator with Callie not far behind, "Torres stay calm"

"What about this Robert Donohue case? What am I going to do about it?"

"Depressed teenagers commit suicide all the time Torres that's the story, that's the front; we don't panic until they are at our doors with pitchforks and torches, okay?" this was the first conversation between these two where they didn't try to kill each other or raise their voices, or make a huge and messy scene. A pat on the shoulder and Richard was off to his office with his own new set of thoughts to chew on

"Richard! Do we need to worry?"

"Not for a second!"

On other days Richard's words go in one ear and out the other but on a day like this his words were all she had to hold on to for some comfort, he was the only one that really had a lot to lose—so if the man who had it all on the line says he isn't panicking then she was going to follow his cue and keep her mind blank till the walls actually start crumbling.

"Hey! George O'Malley is here and he doesn't look like he's smiling this time" the Asian woman said halfway into my office

"Is it too late to tell him I'm in a meeting or something?" she followed my question with a nod and I knew there was going to be an infuriated average height man in my office in a couple minutes and suddenly the day feels like it slowed down for that moment. "Fine! Send him up here" sat up in my chair and was geared up for his seethe.

#####

**3 YEARS AGO**

"Why are you carrying 2 briefcases?" Teddy asked as Callie walked into the building obviously ticked for some reason

"I'm living with Sherlock Holmes… you know what—actually she's Watson" Callie huffed as she stepped into the elevator with Teddy

"Okay explain that expression to me" Teddy said sipping on her sweet hot caffeine which only got an eye roll from Callie as she was missing her morning buzz thanks to her unpleasant argument with Erica that morning about her actions the night before

"Erica is snooping through my case files and last night I caught her in my file cabinet with some vital files"

"She knows that's legally wrong right? I mean I know Erica is a dolt but she's not that stupid" Teddy has never been a fan of hiding her negative words and feelings about Erica which was a problem when we started out but became a normal thing afterwards

"Well, there aren't legal actions I can take—the only ones flashing through my mind are the illegal kind that involves a shovel" Teddy giggling at the sound of my frustration, we got off at my floor and the empty cubicles made the firm look like a radioactive zone

"Firm's looking empty these days" Teddy said as we made it to my office and down into my chair and her as usual on the sofa on the other end of the room

"Well, it's a starting up firm and people are used to what they know so hiring and getting good clientele is slow" Callie replied face deep in her files. "Give it a couple months and it will be all better"

"Yeah I hope, lack of associates makes my work double and you know how much I hate to come in early" Teddy grumbled lazily as she took a horizontal position ready to lay the morning stress to rest

"Uhm I know how much you hate coming in at all"

"I'm thinking of jumping ship" Teddy said out of the blue without making eye contact because she knew I was going to make a fuss

"Wait…what? Teddy that's insane—the firm is a working progress it will be better in a couple months" now that she had Callie's attention

"It's a sinking ship Callie and you're staying here cause of your uncle I know but I don't have to and Mark will stay for you but I really can't keep staying here" she said and this time I had no reply for her because she was right the firm was lacking everything and Richard said he was taking care of things—not too long ago he was having a meeting with an unknown man; Miranda said it was for the expansion of the firm's capital but Teddy was right it was a sinking ship.

"Okay—okay I guess you're right" the room went silent till she had to leave for more work and I couldn't say more cause we just met a couple months and I had no right telling her to stay in the firm and I wasn't sure of its future. Callie stayed at the firm a little late since she wasn't allowed to take most of her files home anymore thanks to Watson so she decided to have a conversation with Richard.

"Hey—can I come in?"

"Torres come on in, how are you liking Seattle so far" his face in his files

"Richard I want to talk about the empty firm"

"How about you do your job and let me worry about my firm, after all you're here cause of your father"

"Richard you don't have to get defensive here, the signs are obvious you barely have a lot going on here and people are leaving"

"I'm handling it, how about you get back to work"

"Is that why that man keeps coming around? All the time? Who is he?"

"His name is Larry Jennings …now get back to work"

####

**PRESENT DAY **

The average height man not looking too prim today; strands of his hair falling onto his face and his shoes aren't the ultra shined kind and she figured he wasn't here to talk about the weather and the tapestry her office.

"George I can explain" she started off before he could yell, she figured that would help the situation just a little more. "Look it just came out I didn't know that…." He cut her off

"That's not why I am here, believe me that's one of the reasons but not the real reason" he sat down parallel to me and leaned against my desk "What the hell is this?" he pulled out a brown envelop from this briefcase and threw it at me—it was the same envelop that Larry showed me this morning

"Where did you get this" she asked starting at it with the same shocked face she had this morning and back at George's red face

"Don't act like you don't know, don't act all innocent" he snapped

"Larry called me this morning to tell me he got the same thing sent to his house by hand—and he is furious and made threats at me…at us!" she snapped back now rising to my feet and pacing **some alcohol would be perfect right about now **"He said if I find out who sent them I should make him know"

"Wait…you didn't send this to me" he said with an oblivious expression etched deep in this features and his mouth slightly open

"Hell no! I saw this for the first time today…last time I saw this George was 3 years ago! How did this happen? THIS ISNT MEANT TO HAPPEN!" now she was yelling out everything she was feeling, she had been doing the 'its fine' show for just way too long and she needed the words to leave her right now and she didn't care whose ears were taking them in, her vault had finally opened and it was filled with unheard words. "3 years ago we made a decision and suddenly when I have my life together –an amazing girl that I could potentially love; it's all crumbling….and for what?"

"Callie! Calm down we'll figure this out…realize how Erica is in town and all of a sudden secrets are spewing? Stuff from the past keeps coming back up?" he said

"Erica is a lot of things but she's not manipulative, the other night she didn't seem out for revenge" she said trying to be sure she isn't wrong about this, thinking back to the other night how she felt after she realized the closest person to her hurt her. "Do you think it could be her?"

"She used to snoop through your files—what makes you think she didn't see it or something"

"She would have said something; she went down and lost her license she would have brought it up to save herself that doesn't make sense"

"All I know is the only people that know about this is Me, You, Webber, Addison, Larry and of course Erica"

"Addison can't be the one she's all the way in Miami—so cross her out she can't be, it can't be Webber or Larry…it's just Erica that's left" Callie said slowly plopping down into her chair

"You want me to call Larry?" George said leaning harder into the desk with a genuine caring expression on his face

"I will take care of it"

"Okay"

####

**3 YEARS AGO**

Glasses clinking together, karaoke machine on its loudest volume, loud chatter from different almost drunk people at the bar and the one that could be heard the most was from Callie's table. They had been guzzling beer, every joke had passed the table, they actually had time to laugh and joke since the work schedule at the firm was lax.

"Joe we need another round of shots on this table and peanuts" Callie yelled from their table fully sane and alert considering all she had been doing was making fun of her girlfriend to her friends and stuffing her throat with peanuts

"Callie you married your dad" George said in between laughs at the story about Erica prying open my case file cabinet and peeking through confidential files

"I'm happy we don't live together, cohabitation with Erica would be toxic" the whole table erupted with laughter but really it was the alcohol laughing through us

"I really hate that we don't do this more often, kind of sucks that I'm having fun" a red head said from the other end of the table; Addison Montgomery she was always the workaholic who works all day and leaves when the short hand of the clock taunts midnight, she's an old friend of Richard's which is exactly why she was staying with the firm

"Okay I'm sure I haven't taken that much alcohol but Webber just texted me an address to meet him at, you guys want to come?" I said squinting at my phone

"Yeah sure you owe me all the peanuts I can eat after that" Addison grumbled as she grabbed her purse and we walked out of the bar. George was behind the wheels the whole drive down to unknown location; it took roughly 30minutes to correctly navigate to the right address.

"I have never been to this side of Seattle before" Addison said stepping out of the car while slapping her red locks off her face

"Neither have I" Callie said this time taking another glance at the point Webber had described in detail in the text he sent earlier

"Are you going to call Webber or you're going to wait till a drug dealer shows up and stabs us all to death" Addison said still battling with her hair…"Wait I think I see him" we saw a huge shadow approaching from the other side of the barely light street, it was quiet and cold

"What are you all doing here?" he asked a little unhinged and he kept staring over his shoulder and around for onlookers or anything that might spark on the side of unusual. "I said Torres"

"We were all together and I didn't think it was something….what are we doing here in the dark and its cold" we were all staring at Richard who looked like he had seen the worst and was about to see more "Richard what's going on?" he still said nothing –"Richard! Who are those men" a couple men keep parading the area and collecting things

"Over that ledge there's a body in the lake and I called you here Torres to clear up the evidence" all 3 of us stood there like we just had a jolt of electricity passed through us, the first sound I heard was the sound of Addison's voice

"He's kidding right? I mean—it's not April but people make jokes at other times of the month too right? Right Callie?" she said her voice shaky and soft. "Richard are you mad? That's a felony" Addie yelled and George decided to do what the rest of us couldn't he stepped up to the ledge and took a peek down the edge and scrunched up his face in disgust

"What's in it for us?" George said his voice cold as ice ready to do whatever it takes for a price

"GEORGE! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!" Addison yelled at the top of her voice before piping down because of the surrounding, my thoughts still processing everything happening around me and my heart rising and falling in my chest, my pores screaming even though it was cold outside, Addison and George's argument back and forth was nothing but a mere whisper her ears her train of thoughts were working overtime and without any filter whatsoever she echoed George's words

"What's in it for me" Addison's jaw dropped to the ground and her eyes wide open at the words she wasn't expecting from the both of us

"The firm it's going to start getting some high rate clients and major sponsorship—clients like Larry Jennings and some other big names so I said yes and he said I'd owe him and now I'm cleaning up murder" Richard said regretfully and he was obviously scared too

"Okay fine how do we start" Addison said from behind with a look that simply signifies that she was forced

"His name his Charles Percy and that boy down there's name is Erin Dawson, those men have taken everything that doesn't fit with the scene" Richard said while visually scouting the area for anything

"We're godamn lawyers not undertakers Richard how are supposed to know what to do next after that?" Addison snapped while staring off at a particular part of a dark building rather suspiciously

"I was going to give it to Torres to keep but then there are 3 of you here, Jennings wants you on the case" he said staring at all 3 of us

"There is no case! Everything here has been wiped clean thanks to those guys down there" Callie said in a snippy tone to Richard

"Just for fear that something might spark up later; I need Torres on this not the whole gang" Richard handed in the files and everything in it. "The bank statement will be added into it tomorrow keep that safe that's my collateral safe keep"

"What the bank statement for?" Addison asked

"You don't want to know how stupid Charles Percy is; he is the most stupid one of them all" the 3 men finally finished clearing the area and one of them pushed the body back into the water, and Callie's heart dropped to the ground; everything that Callie was taught until that night vanished and it wasn't just her respect for Richard that disappeared that night but something else too.

And the look on their faces both George and Addison was complete terror even though they had agreed to be on board on the crazy express for something in return the reality that a kid was really dead and we were at the murder site was enough to terrify anyone out of the job; except for the fact that this wasn't the job, our job was to defend and occasionally cover up the little things that would never make a fuss but murder that was the line for us. Whether we liked it or not we did something terrible that night even if we didn't wipe the scene clean or do anything, the fact that we agreed to keep out mouths shut and hide the evidence we were the same with the men who did the real job. We left the site with the evidence in hand and silence in the car because in that moment we all found out the kind of people we were and in all honesty we didn't like it as much as the next person but that wasn't a subject neither of us was ready to broach.

####

**PRESENT DAY**

"Hey are you okay?" Teddy's voice was faint, thoughts in Callie's head overshadowing the prattle going on at the café. "Callie are even listening to me?"

"I'm sorry—what? What did you say?" my attention finally back to where the café and a pissed off looking Teddy on the opposite end of the table, "I'm sorry my mind is full"

"Want t o share what's stealing your thoughts away?

"I don't think it's anything just yet so I don't want to over think like I always do and ruin things" Callie replied running her forefingers around the rim of her coffee mug

"Alright…let's get back to the office I have some things I need to get done" then Callie giggled from behind her

"Teddy remember the time you quit the firm and almost started working across town?" she giggled in return

"Oh those were the dark days—what made you remember that?"

"Oh nothing...my mind is just all over the place today"

#####

**3 YEARS AGO**

Conscience is a really delicate thing; when you do the right thing it stays clear of your mind and you feel at ease, but when you do the wrong thing it weighs down your mind till the very last minute you decide to let it out.

It had been a week since the incident happened and all 3 of us were still a little shaken up none of us had been to work just yet or called each other to find out if we were alright; we were all capable of atrocious things for the sake of our career and greener pasture and none of us ready to apologize for that, so then why was it so hard to face each other after that night? We watched the news as they announced a jogger found a body and they identified the body but we kept our mouths shut and eyes down.

"What did you do?" Erica busted into Callie apartment and started yelling

"Excuse me?" her face torn from her journal to glare at the new, loud and slightly angry blonde in her living room

"Last week I was looking at some of your cases and you had something on Erin Dawson and I know that case never touched your firm" she yelled this time rounding my apartment in search for Callie's briefcase

"Erica I don't know what you're talking about but this isn't funny at all, isn't that the kid they found dead in the lake?" Callie replied unruffled with all the fear boiling under the surface

"Yes—and don't act like you don't have a clue, show me the cases you're working on currently and why you had muddy boots a couple nights ago" she was serious about this; Erica had two sides the work side and the side that feigns care for everyone and everything else, this was the work side that was making an appearance right now and it didn't care who it was yelling at it just wants answers

"I don't know what you're talking about and those files are confidential they belong to me and not you" Callie said rising up from her spot on the couch to an even height with the blonde, "just because I fix things doesn't mean that I had anything to do with the boy"

"You better not be lying to me because if you are ill find whatever it is and I don't care who goes down" her words calmer than when she first came but still untrusting

"I promise you that I'm not lying, the muddy boots came from Addison's garden…Erica you need to learn to trust me" Callie said this time in a more reassuring tone, if anything was going to burst out it wasn't going to be from her because she had a nosy girlfriend

"You said that before and it turned out then that you were lying, so trusting you is a little hard for me Callie" her voice wasn't getting any calmer , "whatever you did I can still help you"

"I didn't do anything" she gave a vague nod and walked out, she wasn't done with the case and I was scared out of my mind for what the consequences would be so I did the only thing I could think of; I called George. he said he didn't want to have the conversation on the phone and so we met at the Emerald city bar popularly known as Joe's the bar we had been the night before we started harboring the biggest secrets of our lives but our careers were worth it so maybe we didn't really regret is as much as we claimed we did.

"What is the problem?" George asked

"Erica is asking questions and looking through my files again and I think she might have seen something on Erin Dawson I really can't say" Callie said with panic in her voice and on her face

"I have something in place, you said you two don't live together right?" George asked with a rather calm and happy tone like he had been waiting for this chance to take a stick to Erica and my susceptibility was the right tunnel to that plan

"Err—Yes she has her own place" Callie answered unsure of what the next thing was going to be

"Give me her keys we can make it go away and you don't have to worry about anything anymore, nothing is going to happen to her I promise" George was serious he did have a plan in place and his explanation of the plan seemed deep and troubling but the cost was another burden on my conscience and uncertain future of another person but then that selfish thought **better her than me**

"Okay do it"

####

**PRESENT DAY**

"Hey Callie! What are you doing here?" Mark asked holding the door open for her to enter, walked into the kitchen and this was time for alcohol; all the alcohol I could possibly drink

"It's late Cal what are you drinking that much for?"

"Dutch courage I need all the alcohol I'm going to need for what I want to tell you" Mark moved to the table and sat down at the table and pulled out a glass

"Lexie is on-call tonight" he said staring at me

"It all started with Erin Dawson"

#####

REVIEWS! Please let me know what you all think of the chapter. And who do you think has a death wish and keeps sending the files out?


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work…

A|N: I'm going to write out a summary of chapter 7 as requested by a reader and if chapter 7 wasn't confusing just skip ahead to chapter 8… thank you for the reviews you're all awesome!

**SUMMARY:** chapter 7 is about a piece of the past (3 years ago) and the present. It explains how they got wrapped up with Larry Jennings in the first place and why, Shows the reason Erica got framed and whose idea it was, why Richard decided was among the ones who know about the case, would be more confusing if I didn't explain the past before starting the real drama.

##############################################

Chapter 8

They say the truth has the power to set you free when you're young; they tell you that to get you to confess to something you did. But as you get older they tell you that the truth can do one of two things; set you free or trap you, the lucky ones get the former but the others deal with the latter.

It had been two days since I told Mark about everything and all the things that I had kept bottled up and watched him yell and say all the things that had the ability to break a person, and I watched as he held the door wide open for me to walk out of his life without even looking at me, he said he needed time to even begin to understand me again and that was understandable; my lies and faults were going to catch up to me sometime soon it was better from me than from a random stranger, it was Mark so if he needed time to take it all in I would wait for as long as he needed me to. Things with Arizona were better than anything else, that was the only front in my life that was not shifting on the edge of destruction **well until she finds out** but she had been the most amazing person anyone would ever ask for, Teddy had her thoughts on the reasons for the ice cold moments between Me and Mark but what was the right answer to the only person left that would stomach me **more lies.**

"Okay—I'm serious here what happened between you and Mark?" my sight didn't shift from the files piled on my table; she placed the cup of coffee on my table and resumed her regular position on the sofa. "He said he had things to do he's ditching lunch; the ultimate tradition" she sighed

"He's just pissed over something I did and an apology right now seems like building a house of cards in a typhoon" I shrugged so as not to make it look like a big deal I didn't need Teddy asking questions that would lead to more lies

"Okay—then be the stupid kid who tries to do it anyway, I hate when you two act like kids and brood over the silly things" she sighed again "You know what we need?"

"What?"

"A weekend off from everything, from Mark, Henry and Arizona….from Seattle Cal" she stood up from her sit and took the sit right in front of me with a awkward smile like she had the whole thing planned out

"Ruth will miss you so much; think you can have her bake us some lesbian cookies for the road and maybe some scones too" she giggled

"Maybe she can pack us a whole lesbian picnic basket" she replied

"Oh you would like that won't you?" mocking Teddy about her official crush was the highlight of my entire day, she raised her eyebrows for an answer

"Honestly—I think I really need that right now, feels like a wonderful idea"

"Well of course it is, it was my idea; everything out of me is pure genius" she added with a smirk

"What ever happened to taking a compliment and not getting big headed about it?"

"I don't know what you mean—I sincerely have no idea" she got up from and walked towards the door "I need to go and yell at Webber for this new memo he sent out"

"Yell at Webber? Wow! They grow them fearless in your house" I replied

"Daddy disowned all the cowards" she replied with a smirk as she walked out leaving my laughing self to stew on the files I had in front of me, she was right I had to make things right with Mark no matter how much he hated me right now—if there's anything left in our friendship left to salvage this was the time to give it a try.

But first I had to leave the office for some air it suddenly started feeling like I wasn't getting any air in there and I had to think of all the things George said few days before about Erica being out to destroy everything; his whole theory made no absolute sense, Erica couldn't be sending out the files but I was sure it wasn't George either and Addison would never do something that conniving which left only Webber on the list and he had a lot to lose but he also wants to get Larry Jennings off his 'owes' list, either way if I didn't get an answer to Larry soon or any sort of assurance that his concern is being handled with utmost attention I would be the one being shoved into a lake after evidence of murder had been cleared up. So I decided to have lunch with George since we indeed had the same conundrum.

"Have you called Larry about Erica just yet?" he asked while waving off the waiter after his order had been served

"No not yet" his mood changed slightly and he stared at me for a couple seconds longer than normal before forming words

"Why? What's the hold up for? Let him deal with her it's out of our hands now that we know for sure that she's playing us" he offered his opinion all too quickly, his obvious dislike for Erica started making things I thought appear foggy. "Or it could be you or Webber"

"Excuse me?" I asked a little perplexed at the sudden accusation

"Look Callie I'm just looking out for myself here, I can't go down for this and right now the shoe fits Erica more than anyone or maybe its Webber" he was sending out mixed signals about this; sometimes I could swear he was lying and at this moment maybe he was just paranoid.

"Webber has been trying to get Larry off his back for a while now; you think he's doing this?"

"I won't be shocked if it was Webber, his hands would remain clean the entire time, and he was the one with the evidence that night; he could have copies" George added sipping on his caffeine and picking up his utensils ready to dig into his lunch

I scratched my forehead at the confusion that was building in my mind **Webber's hands would indeed remain clean **"He asked me not to worry that it was all going to be fine" **he kept the evidence with me and asked me to get rid of it**

"Maybe it's the calm before the storm technique" his mouthful of food finally pushed out some words that kept my thoughts spinning

"There was no legal evidence tying us to the crime committed but once Charles goes down we go down one by one and Webber takes a major hit; he'll lose his large clients"

"It's been 3 years Callie, whatever deal they had was a boost for Webber he must have his own black book of clients now even if Larry's major clients leave he'll still have enough" George replied and gradually we were starting to question the man who put us all in this tight little corner of problems **at least that's all we keep saying but really our greed did. **"We need to just take some time to think about this; this is Webber we are talking about"

"George I'm extremely aware of that, but then who is doing this? I need to know"

"It might not even be any of us, the evident passed from who to who to Webber that night" George said with a spark in his tone

"But that explains why it got sent to Jennings but why you? Why not Webber; he was the other person those men saw that night? Exactly—why not Webber?" realization that maybe I had been staring at this from a different angle all along was lighting a glint of hope in my heart

"That sneaky bastard—he's playing us like little chess pieces" George sneered

"Calm down… we don't have all the words right just yet George" his eyes staring right at me like he had just been conned with his hand covering his mouth. "I have to get back to work have an ADR case in a couple minutes"

"Yeah I have to be back at the office soon too, call me later?"

"Yes sure" a quick hug and I was out of Giovanni's and on my way home, called Arizona and she had great news for me which was another victory today **maybe I really had nothing to worry about this would blow over in a couple days when I turn Webber over to Larry.**

Stepping back into the firm with a better frame of mind than when I stepped out I had two new set of victories and I decided Mark was going to be the third; he could stay mad but he couldn't stay mad forever he was the only family I had and he was the last person I ever thought I would disappoint but I did so I had to make it right, so a detour to his office where his mousy assistant stopped me at the vestibule; Heather Brooks

"You can't go in there, he's busy" she stepped out from behind her desk

"Heather I can make your years here very painful if you don't step away from the door, unless you want your next job at a dinner downtown" we had never met eye to eye before it was always a straight walk into his office no side stares at the little mousy girl behind the desk but today I guess Mark wanted to make the fact that he was still mad very obvious. "Step aside" her face torn between the threats and the rage from her boss

"Please tell him I tried to stop you" she stepped aside and I marched into Mark's office where he was very shocked at my appearance in his office

"I get that you're angry and you can't stomach me right now but you said you needed time and it's been 2days and nothing from you" I said in a gentle tone after shutting the door to his office, he just sat there blinking with no words

"Torres I can't do this right now; I have to be in court in a couple hours and I need to prepare my case" he returned to his reading

"Are we ever going to be friends again? Do you even want to me to keep waiting for your thought process?" now he was on his feet and putting on his jacket, his briefcase in hand and he walked towards the door

"Look Torres I really don't know…I just…I need to think" he opened the door and gestured for me to walk out

"Whatever happened to 'we're family'?" my heart was still hurting from the words he said 2days ago '**we can pretend we're family all we want but the truth is you're always going to be a liar and I can't stand the constant disappointments…we're never going to be family'.**

"If this is how you treat family then I'm glad I'm not a Torres" I walked out of his office and watched him walk down the hall with not so much as a peek over his shoulder, It felt like needles stabbing my gut but words were exchanged and that in itself was a little victory; I'll take whatever it is for now. Checked my time and walked into the conference room Cristina had set up for my ADR and the clients had already arrived and looking angry **more hours of listening to other people whine about their issues, GREAT!**

"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Brendan, the court has made this ADR mandatory because you both can't decide on the property allocation on the divorce, and you're filing for separation on grounds of adultery" the wife scoffed and crossed her hands over her chest and followed suit with a loud hiss. "Uhm, do you have something to add Ma'am?"

"Adultery? I never cheated on his bitch ass" my dulled senses kicked in when my head snapped right back at the woman with the vulgar words

"Okay can we talk about why you're both here…I haven't been brought to speed on the case" I leaned on the table with my elbow propping my hunched posture up ready to listen in

"She's a slut is what she is, I married the lowest one of them all; she stopped having sex with me" **as if my day wasn't already wrong I had couples fighting over their sex life**

"Excuse me for just a little while I have to get my other consultant for this case" I rose to my feet faster than my body needed to and my hurried steps to Teddy's office

"Hey Teddy Altman get off your ass I need you" I said

"What for—I am not acting as a buffer between you and Mark" she said in a lazy tone

"I need you to see this couple fighting over sex" her attention was on me and she stood up and grabbed her coffee "comedy gold"

"Just when I thought I was having a crappy day" I grabbed her forearm and practically dragged her all the way down to the conference room where the pinched couple appear to keep eyeing each other maliciously

"This is my colleague and she will be helping with the case so shall we continue" Teddy was fast to grab a sit as she kept staring at the couple expecting anything

"This hag stopped having sex with me because she's having an affair with her co-worker" the husband busted out his lawyer trying to keep him as calm as possible

"Your bitch ass is sterile that's the problem" Teddy stifling a laughter covers her mouth with her hands

"Mr. and Mrs. Brendan please I would advise we refrain from name calling for being civil sake" all the while Teddy shifting in her chair awkwardly obviously racked with laughter, the ADR went on for a couple more hours and more yelling from both sides of the table and more vulgar words were thrown at each other; all Teddy did the whole while was laugh and make the whole table think we were a bunch of prudes from the nunnery but that little moment of laughter made everything with Mark settle to the back of my mind and the confrontation was planning to have with Webber fell like a regular conversation.

"I will never get over the words uttered in that room till I turn grey" Teddy said still laughing, "I should really become a lawyer just for moments like that"

"Oh the scarring you will be set up for"

"Leaving the office soon?" she said packing up her desk

"A quick word with Webber and I will meet you at the lobby" walked over to my office and packed the important files into my briefcase and walked to the elevator and took a deep breath because this might not go my way, this conversation had the potential to go two ways right now; he would tell the truth and make everything easy or make up another lie and make everything really hard for me.

"Richard can we talk?" he was already leaving, he had his coat in one hand and his briefcase in the other

"Can this happen another day? I'm going home to Adele" he walked pass me and grabbed his handle

"Did you send out the files?" now mentally kicking myself in the head for blurting out the words that had the ability to crush this little crisis relationship we had built

"Are you out of your mind Torres? Is this a joke?" he asked not too surprised but definitely wasn't expecting that I would come out and ask him; he had always assumed I was a coward and he was right, but this time I had things to protect and the more time I spent cowering away the more things I lost.

"Yes or No Richard it's that simple to answer" he stared at me for a little while and smiled

"You think I don't know what's at stake? You think I have forgotten that this was for the firm? Why would I be foolish enough to damage what I went against my ethics for?" He said in a calm tone

"Yes or No Richard"

"I'm going home to my wife—I suggest you do the same you need to think hard about loyalty; you don't seem to remember where yours lies"

#######

"Hey—how was your day?" Arizona asked from her kitchen while decanting some wine for the both of us, after dinner I started to feel some parts of my brain regain blood flow

"All better now that I'm here" she smiled and handed a glass and sat down the on the couch with her legs stretched out on my laps, "So you had good news?"

"Tell me about your day—I have heard enough of me today have I told you I met my biggest fan today?"

"Kind of makes it hard to believe you have heard enough about yourself when you go off like that" she chuckled and an eye roll, "I had an old couple come in today; they were fighting over not having sex" everyone seemed to have the same reaction to that scenario it was always laughter and nothing more

"Okay—now that's just hilarious"

"Do you think we'll ever get there—I mean be like that?"

"Need a mediator to settle our sexless relationship? With you? I don't think there's a world where that will exist" she replied unflustered like it was a fact not to be doubted

I chuckled loudly "Not that you perv—I meant long-term; do you think we'll be together that long to have silly fights about who put crumbs in the butter"

"Or who used the same knife from the peanut butter jar for the jelly jar" she added

"Or who keeps hugging all the covers while we sleep" I replied

"Or because their other half can only make just eggs and toast" she added

That got laughter out of me because it was more of a direct jab at me "I make other things too"

"Of course you do; you make more eggs and more toast" she said mockingly with her blue eyes trained on me and dimples out just to make her cuter which wasn't really possible, I was really hard to stop staring at her

"Do you think we have a long-term?" I asked a little more serious

"Calliope…you met my parents the second week we met—if I didn't see a long-term I wouldn't have done that" she smiled and shuffled in closer, "Do you see a long-term?"

"Hell yes! I can't promise that things would be perfect but I swear that I will never leave unless of course you want me to"

"Why would I want you to?" she moved in closer and now we were face to face and having a somewhat serious conversation **would it be the wisest thing to tell her about it**

"Time has a knack of tearing people apart and sometimes we change and we're not the same person we fell for" I replied hoping that somewhere deep in this conversation my guts will rise to the occasion and spill out some truth

"Well, sometimes Calliope time also has a knack of bringing people closer than they ever were" she put her hands on my laps and leaned in closer till out faces were inches apart "you think time will favor us?"

"God I hope so because I really…I **love you**—I really love what we have" wishing it was that easy to let it out but what if she finds out and then what? Will she mean everything she's saying right now or would words disappear into the wind once the truth makes a manifestation."It's just sometimes people find things out about their other half and it could break them"

"Well—honesty is a vital part of a relationship; we have that right?" I gave a slow nod and she smiled again. "Then we're perfectly fine Calliope" a light kiss on the lips

"Okay—so tell me about your day"

"I met a fan today, signed a couple copies of my book at the bookstore today—and I met a friend of yours" she got up to walk to the kitchen for more pizza and left me wondering who the hell it was she ran into

"A friend?—you're sure I know this person?" curiosity was backbone of destruction and sometimes a doorway to new discoveries, but right here I had to tone down my curiosity I wouldn't want her wondering what I had to hide

"Yes—she said she read my book and loved it; she even got it autographed" she appeared back into the living room with the whole box of pizza

"What's her name?"

"I really can't remember—she has this regular name…its uhhm something that… Edith or something" she shrugged and sipped on her wine

"Is it Erica?" I asked quietly

"Yes—yes Erica! That's the name that skipped off…she said you two knew each other, what's the story there?" she asked a little curious. Why would Erica introduce herself to my girlfriend; was she trying to make a statement? Was she trying to get across to me? What exactly was the point of it all?

"She used to work at the firm, she quit a couple years back, something about the job not being suited for her potential" my web of lies were starting to grow bigger and soon people would start getting caught in my mistakes but with Arizona the lies were vital to keep her from finding out

"Well—that really sucks she did seem a little nice" my thoughts chuckled at the idea of Erica being nice but the angle she was playing was still very unclear to me, which means I needed to talk to George

"You want to stay here tonight?"

"Oh—what I would give for that but I have to work all night and be in early to….to err….you know what? Screw it I want to stay here tonight"

"You see that's why I keep saying we'll never need a mediator for our sex life "I couldn't help but laugh at everything about us, she was perfect and I love her but was that enough to make her stay and what the hell was I going to do with Erica and the impending destruction she is threatening to cause. Maybe she is the one sending out the files and pictures—maybe it was time to have another sit down with Larry.

#####

"She did what? That's a little out of line" George let out in an exclaimed tone while adding some sugar to his coffee

"You want some coffee with that sugar?" I laughed at the nervous man adding all the sugar into his little cup of coffee

"Call Larry already and just put a stop to the whole thing—you have a direct link to the man just tell him it's Erica already" he replied a little agitated

"I confronted Webber and he didn't exactly say no—in fact he didn't deny he just walked out"

"It might be Webber but it just….it just feels like its Erica and she's just up to something—you know?" he was eating pancakes and nothing about his attitude seemed off like maybe he was trying to set-up Erica again

"I just want to hold off for another day or two maybe confront Erica and just…" he interrupted

"NO—NO! That's bad idea…I mean you don't know what that witch is up to" he wiped his mouth with the napkin and adjusted in his seat. "Look, she's a little unhinged and she threatened me that night she came to see me about setting her up"

"Why didn't you say something?" I asked a little bemused that George would leave such a crucial detail about that out the previous day at lunch and why was he so worried about me talking to Erica at all **what the hell is going on**

"I didn't think it was important; it was between me and her and I felt ineffectual about the whole thing" he said avoiding eye contact and his whole act wasn't fooling anyone, George wasn't the kind of person that would take threats with an open palm so either there was something he was up to or this was plainly about getting rid of Erica yet again, he might not be the one sending out the files but he certainly had something against Erica or Erica had something on him either way something was up

"Okay—I will call Larry about her" he gave an appreciative nod and went back to feasting on his pancakes and I could help but keep staring at him wondering what was going on in that mind of his

After breakfast with George I was back at the office and staring through the window at the lovely Seattle horizon the sky was clear and the sun was right there making the weather a little damp and just the right amount of warmness to make the day perfect—But was the day really perfect I had the thoughts of 7 people brewing in my mind all at once. I had three options If I decided to turn in Webber to the man I am absolutely sure doesn't have a legal punishment in mind for whoever was trying to screw with him; that would be the end of the firm, if I decided that it was Erica and she turned out to be innocent, that would be screwing her over twice in a row so I had to really think hard about the choices I was left with, all fingers point to her but then again there was George with the shifty behavior and the con mind—he didn't have a reason to bring us all down seeing as he also had something to benefit from the whole thing and bringing everyone down would also hit him, So who is playing this stupid game. My thoughts started to drown out everything and the headaches started to hit

"Hey" a large muscular man looking just as awful as I felt standing at my office door

"Hey" I said plainly not sure where this conversation might end up so I wasn't sure if the words I had planned for the occasion were appropriate

"I lost a case today" he said as he proceeded to move deeper into my office and he took a sit right in front of me

"I'm sorry about that" still conveying no emotion or anything

"What I said I didn't mean—I'm sorry about everything I said" he said warily like he didn't know how to make a conversation with me anymore, "I just wanted you to feel a little bit of what I felt"

"Yeah?—what part didn't you mean? Cause you said a lot" I retorted

"Everything Torres—you are my family and you are special to me more than you'll ever know and all the things I said was just…I felt betrayed" he said genuinely and I could see just how far my lies could go, how much they could hurt and how much they have hurt

"I did—and I know that I did and…I tried so hard to tell you but I didn't want to deal with you looking down on me I couldn't deal with you being disappointed" the truth; it hurts sometimes when you have to say it but sometimes it's all anyone ever wants to hear

"I was but not anymore, staying mad at you was for when we were kids and you would cut off half my hair when I was sleeping" we both chuckled and I nodded in memory of the good days

"Yes those were the good days…I'm sorry for what I did and the lies—I'm so sorry Mark" I apologized with all the emotion my face could express because I really was sorry.

"You don't ever get to lie to me ever again—are we clear on that? You just don't get to do that, lying to each other is how the Torres family works not in this little one of ours" he said as he stood up rounded my table and stood shadowing me in my sit

"I know that and I will never ever lie to you again" I stood up to measure in height and he pulled me into a tight hug which felt like the biggest victory of the entire week, for a while I thought this might have been the end of our friendship

"Does Altman know about this" he asked as we finally detached, I shook my head and looked down, "Does Blondie know about this?" I shook my head yet again and this time he chuckled and took a step back, "You are all shades of screwed"

"I am not—she won't find out anything all this will blow over very soon and before you know it, it's a brand new freaking day"

"You should tell Altman though; she will understand she's family too"

"What if she doesn't forgive me? What if she walks away? I can't lose any of you" Mark was back on his sit in front of me and I was pacing the space

"You're finally starting to admit that you're not the only one in this family, Torres its better for her to know—it's better for them to know"

"What if they leave?"

"They will be pissed like I was and they will yell like I did but in the end the truth will always be better than a lie, unless you really want to keep doing this to them"

Mark was right, he had all the right words to make me march all the way to Arizona's apartment and tell her all the things that I had done—but one reality that Mark failed to realize is that in some cases you're always better off with a really good lie.

#####

Reviews would go a long way to motivate the next chapter and tell me what you all think and who the person playing about might be


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: This is my first writing so please be nice with the criticism, I pay a lot of attention to details so the story might be stretched a little but with time I'll start to adjust and make it all come together, I'm open to your thoughts and criticism…Enjoy!

#####

Chapter 9

When people lie to the people that they love there is always an excuse behind it; **I'm doing it to protect them, they don't need the hurt, **they all seem like viable reasons to us but when the truth finally finds its way out…no one ever hears the reasons all they end up looking like is a **selfish** person—and nothing more!

It was a Saturday morning and a whole full week ever since she told Mark about the whole thing that had been stewing up in her mind, after that it had felt like the world sitting on her shoulders had dismounted and taken to another misery stricken mind wandering the Seattle streets, not that Callie didn't have her own fair share of a bothered mind—she did but things weren't that bad anymore, she knew for a fact that Erica was behind the files being sent out and even if she wasn't, she wasn't going to bring Webber down on her quest to free herself from her self-inflicted mental struggle, it had been a month and a few weeks her and Arizona had been dating and that was feeling very good so she had it in mind to calm herself and go into Larry Jennings' office later that day and tell him who was playing pranks and the rape case that was still bring up minor issues at work would finally take a turn and die down, so maybe all she needed was just to calm down things weren't all that bad anymore she was getting herself back and her life wasn't going to take a sudden turn for the worse **or so she thought anyway.**

Waking up in the morning to the woman she loves was amazing, to a cold morning which was as common as a blue sky in Seattle but these morning as often as they happen wasn't something Callie was used to, each time felt like the first time she met Arizona.

Trailing kissing down Arizona's neck to wake up the blonde was making the morning better anyway, naked skin grazing each other under the covers, protecting them from the icy breeze Seattle's rain was blowing through the windows, arms wrapped and legs tangled in each other, they had slept off after hours of **one on one** time, Callie had been avoiding her all week because it just felt more logical to avoid her than be around her an spill the truth mistakenly, that would be really hard to take back,

"Have to speak to my Editor today, said he had wonderful news for me" Arizona pushed out with sleep in her voice, she loved the feeling on her girlfriend's lips against her skin

"Free day, just going to have lunch with Teddy and Mark, and see Webber later today" still kissing Arizona's neck but now moving down south to her collar bone and then to her chest

"Hmmm—wish we could stay here all day, its warm here like a cocoon" She pulled Callie in closer till there was no space between their bodies, their breast pressed firmly pressed against each other and they stay there for while just breathing each other in, "Callie?"

"Hmmm?" Callie hummed still sleepy

"I love you" her voice didn't carry any shred of uncertainty or fear, it was sure that she wanted to say it—not that it fell right out of her in that moment they were in, she pulled back from Callie slightly to stare at the brunette in the face, the look on her face echoing her vulnerability

Callie's heart fell to her stomach, she had been shying away from those words for a couple weeks and she had felt that the blonde didn't feel the same way, she had avoided it in a way because of all the baggage that she came with, but in that moment baggage be damned she loved this woman with all she had and before she could even think to process all the words, "I love you too" she said with a huge smile

Arizona flipped Callie over; she was now hovering over the brunette with both hands pressing down the pillow with her head just right in the middle, blue orbs staring down into brown and Callie felt fear in her mind that she could she right through her, "You do?"

"I do" Callie replied, Arizona pressed her lips on Callie's and once again their bodies were molding together, Arizona using her hands to support her weight off the Callie as the kiss got deeper, "You love me" Arizona said sounding like a little high school girl whose crush just asked her out

"I do, I really do love you" nothing more genuine than those words, the brunette might lie for a living and have all the skeletons in her closet but in that moment; everything out of those bruised lips were true…

And now the fear that she might lose the blonde had doubled triple times over in that moment, was she no longer sure she was still ready to let the truth be known or was this pretty little pink bubble they had been floating in for 1 month and a couple weeks just perfect enough to shield them from everything and anything that Erica might be planning to hurl her way or whoever it was, but she was determined to end this whichever way possible because Arizona **loves her**…

Arizona had planned on staying in bed all day and exploring all the possible ways to make girlfriend moan but when her Editor called her into work she had no choice but to make an appearance even if she had to leave her apartment with a very sexy Latina in it,

She hated her Editor that wasn't the a new thing; but no matter how much she hated Stark she still had to listen to him, so far he had made her books worth a lot of things and his push and constant nagging was one of the things that made her shine brighter than she ever thought was possible, Stark had flown in from Boston to give her the news in person

"Robert…." She called out when she entered the restaurant and walked up to their table, she sat down

"Good you're here, order the best wine little lady because we are celebrating this" he said with a giddy voice which wasn't something that was familiar with Stark; he was vapid and most of the time annoying but never giddy

"What's this about Stark?" Arizona replied

"How would you like to have Winter Winds on a fucking bill board somewhere in a huge city… like New York, Paris and many more" he said with his hand waving the air like he had a visual aid all set up

"Out with it Robert" Arizona said getting anxious

"They love your book, they absolutely love it, the fans are going crazy and the authors want to meet the beautiful mind that spat it all out" Stark finally said with more excitement, "and the rumor mill has it that some might want movie rights"

"To my book?—my book? They love the book that much?" she said with surprise

"It's fantastic Robbins, I mean I have read the thing and I thought it was sheer brilliance and now the world thinks so too, so they want a book tour for more promotion if we really want movie producers on this" he grabbed his blackberry and started dialing things in and making plans and saying all the words and making phone calls while Arizona tried her best to sink all the details in

She had published a book before but then she didn't take the job seriously, the book was lovely but she could have done better and she knew that, like they always say; the first attempt can't always be the best, except she was an overachiever and she wanted it to be the best, after her brother died Winter Winds was a dedication to his memory she wrote the book with all the feelings she had and right now that was starting to pay off, Stark finally got off the phone and smiled at her,

"A book tour is fantastic, that's huge" Arizona said sharing the same happiness that Stark had

"That's not even the best part of the news Robbins, by the time this tour is done your accountants are going to have a field day with this" his excitement wasn't decreasing

"There's more?"

"Oh there's more…big cities want you Robbins not small towns that are barely on the map, they adore the book" she was pressing and tapping at his phone and Arizona was left sitting across from him still stunned, "touring 4 cities in 4months Robbins that's something major" that caught Arizona's attention

"Wait—4months? That's a whole lot of time for just a book signing" Arizona replied

"The Boswell foundation for Exceptional Writers are funding this whole thing and they sent this schedule looking rubbish slip, that has you down for book signing, touring the city, open reading to people in parks and rich people bullshit and you get to meet other writers" Stark caught a whiff of the expression the blonde had, any other person in the world would have their head in the sky with news this huge but Arizona had her mind somewhere else, "are you hesitant about this?"

"No—Stark of course not, I just got my feet planted firmly in Seattle and I should just uproot and leave?" Arizona figured that sounded a little retarded and trusted Stark would echo it back to her as such

"Do we need to go to the hospital? Did you by any chance slam your head against a wall? This is a lifetime opportunity; it doesn't float around often Robbins" Stark leaned into the table trying his best not to yell or reach over the table and rip Arizona's hair out of its roots

"How long before the tour?"

"Let's just say I'm going to need an answer in a couple days and if it is a yes which I'm sure it will…2weeks and we're off" Arizona shook her head and moved her forefingers along the rim of the glass of wine and her thoughts weren't exactly coherent so she decided to push her answer a little far from her speech synapses so she wouldn't make a commitment, she had a huge career changing chance on her laps and all she could think about was Callie and how she would feel if she was 4monthhs apart from the love of her life, this was good news and bad news; **what if she doesn't like the long distance and it blows holes in their relationship**

"Can I think about this?" Arizona replied avoiding eye contact with Stark she stuck to staring at anything else in the restaurant

"Someone better have your voodoo doll tied down to Seattle somewhere because I really don't understand how someone decides to put their career before something personal" he stood up and threw the cash to cover the wine we both ordered and walked away, "Call me when you have your head screwed on right"

Arizona was left sitting alone at the restaurant with her thoughts filing in randomly and Stark was right, she had her career to think about but every time she closed her eyes and thought about what she wanted she saw herself waking up with a certain brunette with their little girl running around breaking little hearts, a year ago she saw exactly what she was being offered, the choice was simple but she didn't want to make it.

####

"Pass the cheese" Callie said to Mark, they sat in Callie's kitchen with a box of pizza; Mark was opening the wine, "So Arizona said she loves me" Callie said with a wide smile

"Blondie finally said the words you have been a chicken about? I must give her points for being ballsy to put that out there, so you're going to tell her still?" Mark asked

"I really don't know, she loves me Mark…she loves me—I can't ruin that, I just don't think I want to, it will hurt her too much" Callie replied

"This isn't about her and you know it, this is about how much you will hurt if she freaks out, that's selfish" Mark settled on one of the stools and poured himself a glass of wine

"Maybe it is, I'm allowed to be just a little selfish here, I love her Mark and I can't break us… I really can't—I really have to fix this"

"Well have you found out who has been sending all the insane things you people are scared shitless about?" mouthful of pizza Mark said

"Spoke to George couple of days ago and he is sure it is Erica, we broached the issue that it might be Webber but he has way too much to lose so I'm doubting everything I know"

"What if it is George? Have you considered that he is just being a snake all over again?" Mark shrugged minding his own wine

"No—it can't be, he's having the same struggles and I'm having with this so I'm just going to talk to Larry and let him handle the whole thing"

"I still think you should tell Arizona everything though…all she can do is be pissed and betrayed but that girl loves you she won't leave you" Mark added

"No –I will fix this without any problem, I know that I can" Callie added all too confident of herself

"Alright…so in an unrelated topic I called the jeweler today—don't make a big deal out of it" Mark said unruffled like he didn't just drop one of the biggest news ever, he picked another slice of pizza and finally glanced at Callie who was stifling a scream, he sighed "Fine—let it out"

"Mark! Oh my God that's amazing news you know that right? Why aren't you as excited as I am?"

"Because in the midst of all this, I still have you to think about and **you **and your problems are pretty heavy on me right now—fix them" Mark added and in that moment Callie realized she wasn't the only one carrying the problems, she might be the only one handling it but not the only one it's weighing on

"Mark I can't be the one holding your big moment back, now get your ass up and let's go get that lovely girlfriend of yours a ring" He smiled and sipped his wine, and stared at Callie for a while

"You know Torres I don't know what changed in you but I'm glad it did…you're better this way—now come on and let's get that lovely girlfriend of mine a ring" they both chuckled

"Mark Sloan engaged—has the nicest ring to it—cheers" they clanked their glasses.

They left the house and in months this was the first day Callie felt happy and tried to ease everything she had been bagging around all the while, Arizona loves her and she loves her back and her best friend in the world was getting engaged, he was on his way to being happy and she was on her way to finally closing off that chapter from 3 years ago and this impending rape case, Gary Clark was talking to everyone he could find so she had to tell Arizona about that soon enough or the news would, Callie knew it was going to happen she was just tired of rushing to fix it all before it happened.

"How is this one?" Mark held up a ring with the diamond almost as big as toe, he held it high in the air and the jeweler was saying all the words to make him buy it, "Think she'll love it?"

"She'll probably get mugged from aliens from space with a rock that big" Callie joked looking around the store when a twin necklace caught her attention, it was a heart; one pendant for two necklaces, it was magnet keeping the two pieces together and she just knew she needed that right now,

"What about this one?" Callie turned around to see Mark holding the perfect ring; it was 30ct white gold cubic zirconia baguette shoulder ring, it was pure beauty and Mark knew it was perfect, he asked the jeweler to put it in a little black box and I got the twin magnet necklace.

#####

"This is some sick crazy joke right" Alex said leaning on her door frame with his hands crossed to his chest, "This is a huge thing Arizona some writers never even get this"

"I know that—what you think I'm stupid" she paused halfway into the sentence and realized she was a little stupid for thinking about pausing on her huge career for a woman she had only met for 1 month and a couple weeks, but it didn't feel that way and she couldn't help but feel this would be an issue, "Never mind—you wouldn't understand"

"It's about her? Callie?" Arizona gave a weak nod knowing Alex was going to rave about the fact that she was being hesitant to go on a career changing book tour because of another person, "If she respects you Arizona she will understand"

"Her last relationship ended like that, I don't want a wedge cause of demanding careers…I'm afraid to lose this one Karev" Arizona's voice was low, almost like she feared Callie would hear her all the way from her house or feel her vulnerability

"You're insane if you think 4months is all it'll take for that lady to fall out of love with you" Alex walked over to the edge of the bed where Arizona was sitting and sat beside her with a smile, "give her the benefit of the doubt"…Alex gave her a gentle nudge

Arizona let go of the breath she has been holding in for the whole day, she had been holding it in for the whole while since Stark laid down his plans for her future, this was all for Tim and she never would forget that, Tim made all this possible so she would do this for him and talk to Callie about it after all its just 4months, would a 1month and some weeks survive that long? A break longer than the entire span of their relationship.

She had decided to stay over at Callie's that night, she would have preferred her place so if things got really weird Callie would be the one to leave and not her, but Callie had texted saying she had a surprise and she seemed excited about something so she decided to wait at Callie's house and catch up on some of her writing in the time. She went by their room, she had called it that the other day and Callie didn't seem to mind, they had slowly started to become something special and then 4months away from all that wasn't looking too pretty for their survival, she walked up to Callie's nightstand and picked up the book she gave her a month ago and she flipped through the pages, Callie had some lines highlighted,

**With her my heart was true and with her my love was pure, fate said no but my heart said yes.**

Arizona smiled, but not at the words she had written herself but at the fact that her girlfriend had highlighted that part, she heard the door close and walked back downstairs to see Callie smiling like she had just been offered sex,

"What's wrong with your face" Callie asked as Arizona fell heavy into the couch and sighed… "Are you okay?" ;

"I talked to my Editor like I said I would and…well he said that errrr…he said that the foundation for exceptional authors loved my book and they sponsoring a book tour"

"That's great news…that amazing news so why do you look sad about it"

"I'll be gone for 4months in 4 cities promoting my book, and maybe get producers on it…4months Callie that's a long time" She watched Callie's expression change and watched her move back a little but Callie didn't do that because 4months was a long time away from each other she thought to herself that if Arizona was going to be gone that long she can fix everything before she gets back from her book tour, all the guilt she had been feeling and the fact that she had not been honest had been hurting her, but now she can right all the wrongs before Arizona returns so maybe this book tour would be a really good escape for the both of them, so she didn't have to tell her anything; she was safe, this was all working out for her in her favor, "what's going through your mind?"

"4months is a long time but we'll survive it, we'll be perfectly fine it might be longer than our relationship span but you love me and I love you and none of the rest of it matters" Callie said with a smile joining her on the couch

"We're going to be fine 4months apart?—you said this ruined your other relationship and I guess I just…" Callie interrupted her rant with a kiss; she cupped her face in her hands and kissed her again

"That was **that** relationship…we will be fine—I'll come out to every city on free days if you want me to, we will be fine Arizona" Callie said reassuringly and kissed her again this time a little longer

"I can't believe that scared me there for a while—I thought it would cause some problems" she shook her head at the realization of how silly she had been to think that little things would cause problems for them, "So you said you had something to tell me?"

Callie smiled and pulled out a blue box and opened it, she pulled out the necklace and pulled the little heart-shaped pendant held together by magnet apart, "I got this today, so no matter what city you're in you'll have half of us with you—and always remember that you're mine" Callie said with a smile as she put the necklace on around Arizona's neck hanging between her breast was half a heart and Callie had the other half, "happy 1 month and couple weeks anniversary"

"I love you" Arizona said simply like it was a habit even though they had just said it for the first time that morning, she felt so happy she was being silly for even thinking they wouldn't be fine for the term she would be away, "we'll call, we'll send messages, we'll Skype….everyday"

Callie giggle and wrapped her arms around Arizona's neck and pulled her in closer to her, she kissed her and pulled back slightly, "everyday"

Callie was having mixed feelings about her girlfriend packing up her bags and leaving her for 4months but she respected the fact that she was making a huge step on the career front, and the fact that within those 4months she didn't have to worry about doing something wrong that would make Arizona suspect that she was hiding something; she would be miles away and busy while she stayed in Seattle and tried to fix everything that was wrong. It wouldn't take 4months to fix this **little** issue with Gary Clark, he had started talking to reporters and different people and rape activists would have their banners in the air soon asking for justice and when that happens, the courts would start asking questions and when they can't get answers to why a case as crucial as rape never made it to a court room, someone would be going to jail and losing their license and if they start to question Callie's legal credibility they start digging into other cases she might have handled that might have suddenly gone silent, so she had a lot to lose if Gary kept talking to everyone so she decided it was time to call Carlos into this, and also time to clear things up with Larry Jennings and give Erica up and within 4months it would all be better, **nothing—absolutely nothing will screw this up**

####

Steps to start making things work out in her favor were in place she had just gotten off the phone with Mark telling her about the new 'Mrs. Grey-Sloan' in Seattle, he couldn't even hide his excitement, he asked Callie if she told Arizona about everything, she told Mark her entire plans to have it all fixed before Arizona gets back to Seattle which Mark repeatedly voiced was a bad idea but she had the thoughts of a selfish person, so in that moment all Mark's words were flying out right through the other ear. **She had this under control—or did she?**

Callie walked up to the apartment building and looked around, she peeked at her watch she had to be at work in a couple hours and Arizona was getting ready for her book tour so she had a lot of places to be and people to meet and hands to shake, Callie walked up to the door and gave it a light knock; a slightly pinched blonde emerged from behind the door

"What the hell are you doing here?" Erica said without any sense or hint of warmness, she was wondering what Callie would want now

"Erica we need to talk—this thing you're doing isn't helping anyone" Callie replied, facing a slightly confused Blonde"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Erica retorted getting really anxious at the sudden appearance of her ex and the silly accusations

"Don't act like you don't know" Callie replied… "We need to talk"

########

Sorry for the delay….


End file.
